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1 1-^ 


ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 


By   Kiyoshi   K.   Kawakami,    M.A. 


AMERICAN-JAPANESE  RELATIONS 

An  Inside  View  of  Japan's  Policies  and  Purposes. 

Net  $2.00. 

"Mr.  Kawakami  treats  of  these  questions 
with  vigor,  clearness  and  judicial  breadth  of 
view.  ...  The  book  is  the  ablest  and  most 
exhaustive  on  the  theme.  .  .  .  The  author 
threshes  out  facts  concerning  Japanese  im- 
migration, coming  to  the  same  conclusion  that 
scientific  inquirers,  the  best  business  men  and 
the  statesmen,  whose  eyes  are  not  on  votes, 
have  long  held.  .  .  .  Mr.  Kawakami's  argu- 
ments are  sound  because  based  on  everlasting 
righteousness  and  common  sense." — New  York 
Times, 


ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

A  Study  of  the  Japanese  Question  in  Continental 
United  States,  Hawaii  and  Canada,  Net  $1.50. 

ff^iih  a  Prologtie  by  Doremus  Scudder  and  an 
Epilogiu  by  Hamilton  W.  Mabie. 

In  this  new  book  the  author  gives  a  graph- 
ical account  of  Japanese  life  in  contact  with 
Caucasian,  as  well  as  vivid  descriptions  of 
his  personal  experiences  and  observations  thus 
injecting  intense  human  interest  into  a  seri- 
ous discussion  of  a  vital  problem  confront- 
ing the  Occident  in  general,  and  in  particu- 
lar the  American  people.  He  presents  his 
facts  in  a  lucid,  fascinating  style.  In  a 
sense  the  book  is  an  interpretation  of  the 
Orient  to  the  Occident,  and  a  plea  for  the 
fraternity  of  the  races  and  for  international 
peace  based  upon  justice  and  humanity. 


.  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

A  Study  of  the  Japanese  Question  in  Continental 
United  States  ^  Hawaii  and  Canada 


BY 

KIYOSHI  K.  KAWAKAMI      %^ 

I  ■ 

Author  of  "American-Japanese  Relations  " 


WITH  A  PROLOGUE  BY 

DOREMUS  SCUDDER 

AND  AN  EPILOGUE  BY 

HAMILTON  W.  MABIE 


New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming    H,   Revell    Company 

London         and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1914,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  125  N.  Wabash  Ave. 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  St.,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:   100  Princes  Street 


TO 


282217 


CONTENTS 

Prologue  by  Doremus  Scudder   . 

I.    The  Meeting  of  Two  Worlds 
II.    Mutual  Disillusionment 

III.  Can  We  Americanize  Them? 

IV.  Can  We  Americanize  Them? — II  . 
V.    Their  Humble  Achievements 

VI.  "  They  Are  Taking  Our  Farms  !  "  . 

VII.  The  Japanese  in  Our  Cities  . 

VIII.  "Hewers    of    Wood    and    Drawers 

Water" 

IX.  California  and  the  Japanese 

X.  The  California  Land  Imbroglio    . 

XI.  In  the  Melting  Pot  of  the  Races  . 

XII.  "  They  Have  Usurped  Hawaii  "     . 

XIII.  The  Japanese  in  Hawaii 

XIV.  The  Japanese  in  Canada 
XV.  "White  Canada" 

Epilogue  by  Hamilton  W.  Mabie    . 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

Acknowledgment  is  due  to  the  editors  of  The  Forums  The 
American  Citizen,  and  The  Canadian  Magazine,  for  permission 
to  incorporate  in  this  volume  the  articles  contributed  to  those 
publications.  I  am  also  indebted  to  The  Outlook  for  permission 
to  use  as  an  epilogue  to  this  book  Mr.  Hamilton  W.  Mabie's 
article  on  "  America  and  the  Far  East,"  appearing  in  its  issue  of 
August  2,  1913. 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  state  that  the  encouragement  and 
co-operation  of  my  friend,  Mr.  Frank  Putnam,  of  the  St.  Louis 
Post-Dispatch,  as  well  as  the  sympathy  of  my  wife  for  the 
cause  for  which  I  am  labouring,  has  been  largely  responsible  for 
the  preparation  of  this  humble  book. 

K.  K.  K. 

New  York. 


PROLOGUE 
OUR  NATION'S  DUTY  TO  JAPAN 

NO  other  nation  stands  so  close  to  the  Japan  of  to- 
day as  America.  One  reason  for  this  is  the  funda- 
mental cosmopolitanism  of  both.  Fundamental 
because  racial  elements  are  fundamental  and  both  the 
American  and  the  Japanese  are  racial  mixtures.'  In  Japan 
three  great  human  stocks  are  blended,  the  Malayan,  the 
Mongolian,  and  the  Aryan.  Our  own  blend  is  more  dis- 
crete perhaps  in  that  there  are  more  blood  strains  repre- 
sented, yet  also  more  homogeneous  because  the  Aryan 
stock  so  largely  predominates.  Thus  on  either  side  of  the 
Pacific  we  have  the  two  most  composite  peoples  facing 
each  other.  Because  most  composite,  therefore  most 
largely  human  and  as  a  consequence  more  vitally  related. 
Another  reason  for  the  natural  intimacy  of  these  two 
great  peoples  exists  in  their  love  of  peace.  Since  the 
United  States  became  an  independent  nation  it  has  had 
three  foreign  wars,  and  all  of  them  of  minor  nature, 
though  of  large  importance  in  their  outcome.  These  wars 
were  forced  upon  us  and  were  not  of  our  choosing.  We 
have  been  the  great  arbitrating  world-power.  Our  situa- 
tion, our  traditions,  and  our  line  of  development  make 
for  peace. 

Peace-Loving  Japan 

Japan's  history  also  has  been  remarkably  pacific.    Since 
the  emergence  of  the  nation  upon  the  arena  of  Eastern 

7 


8  '  '    '  PROLOGUE 

Asiatic  history  its  foreign  wars  have  been  almost  neg- 
ligibly few.  Way  back  in  the  third  century  of  our  era 
Korea  was  subdued  by  the  Japanese,  who  later  were  ex- 
pelled. In  the  thirteenth  century  a  Mongolian  invasion, 
the  only  occasion  when  Japanese  soil  was  violated  by  for- 
eign foes,  was  beaten  back.  Though  Japanese  freebooters 
ravaged  Asiatic  commerce,  no  further  war  occurred  un- 
til the  sixteenth  century,  when  Hideyoshi  conquered 
Korea  a  second  time.  Then  from  1624  until  1853,  when 
Commodore  Perry  landed,  Japan  kept  herself  absolutely 
free  from  all  foreign  intercourse,  except  with  the  Dutch 
in  the  harbour  of  Nagasaki.  In  1894  and  again  in 
1904  Japan  was  forced  into  war,  first  by  China  and  then 
by  Russia.  So  much  for  external  relations,  how  about 
domestic  history  ?  Ages  of  bloody  conflicts,  first  between 
the  Japanese  and  the  aboriginal  peoples,  next  between 
rival  clans,  marked  the  story  of  the  development  of 
Japan's  feudal  system,  but  from  1600  until  1868,  when 
the  Emperor  was  restored  to  power,  the  nation  enjoyed 
internally  nearly  three  centuries  of  profound  peace. 
There  is  in  the  history  of  mankind  no  brighter  narrative 
of  tranquillity  than  this  in  connection  with  a  people  of 
abounding  virility  and  enterprise.  Japan's  record  is  be- 
yond question  not  that  of  a  war-loving  nation.  This  race 
certainly  resembles  our  own  in  devotion  to  peace. 

Young  World  Power  Aided 

A  third  reason  for  deep  friendship  between  these 
neighbours  lies  in  America's  great  services  to  Japan. 
In  1854  Commodore  Perry  returned  to  Yokohama  on  his 
second  visit  and  opened  the  country  to  intercourse  with 
the  world.  Our  nation  followed  up  this  kindly  office  by 
showing  every  possible  consideration  to  the  new-born 
child  in  the  family  of  Powers.    We  sent  as  our  repre- 


PROLOGUE  9 

sentatives  the  noblest  we  had — men  like  Townsend  Har- 
ris and  John  A.  Bingham.  They  dealt  justly.  We  re- 
turned the  Shimonoseki  indemnity.  We  negotiated  fair 
treaties  and  stood  with  Japan  against  all  Europe  in  sup- 
port of  her  demand  to  be  relieved  from  the  injustice  of 
extra-territoriality.  We  opened  our  schools  and  col- 
leges freely  to  her  young  men  and  treated  them  like 
brothers.  We  poured  our  missionaries  unstintedly  into 
her  cities  and  lavished  large  sums  in  establishing  all 
manner  of  educational  institutions.  No  step  of  the  young 
giant  toward  adulthood  among  world  Powers  was  un- 
greeted  by  the  encouraging  plaudits  of  America.  In  the 
dark  day  of  war  with  Russia  we  were  her  nearest  friend 
and  our  President  helped  more  than  any  other  single 
force  in  securing  the  brilliant  settlement.  Up  to  the 
conclusion  of  that  peace  not  a  cloud  had  darkened  the 
intimate,  noble,  and  unselfish  friendship  of  these  two 
great  peoples. 

"A  Nations  Gratitude 

And  Japan  appreciated  it.  No  such  ardent  gratitude 
has  ever  gripped  the  very  heart  and  life  of  a  nation  as 
love  for  America  has  the  soul  of  Japan.  Whatever  Eu- 
rope might  do  in  its  selfish  schemes,  America  could  be 
depended  upon  to  be  both  fair  and  kind.  The  belief  of 
this  people  in  us  has  been  one  of  the  ideal  things  in 
the  realm  of  international  relationships,  unique  in  human 
history.  Its  depth  was  reflected  a  few  years  ago  by  Ad- 
miral Togo  in  a  speech  made  in  one  of  the  Pacific  Coast 
cities,  where  he  exclaimed  that  his  nation  would  sooner 
commit  harakiri  than  fight  America.  That  is  a  senti- 
ment which  only  one  acquainted  with  Japanese  hon- 
our can  understand.  It  belongs  to  the  realm  of  the 
Cross. 


10  PROLOGUE 

Sinister  Interests 

But  with  the  conclusion  of  the  Peace  of  Portsmouth, 
America  began  to  change.    It  is  now  openly  charged  that 
this  change  has  been  deliberately  engineered  by  commer- 
f  cial  interests  which  would  profit  by  war — those  terribly 
I      sinister  interests  that  throughout  the  European  world 
;      also  are  goading  the  nations  on  to  ever  larger  arma- 
\    ments.    This  charge  seems  plausible.    It  is  the  only  ex- 
V  planation    that    adequately    accounts    for    the    strange 
growth  of  suspicion  in  America  during  the  past  eight 
years.     Events  have  followed  fast.     First  came,  seem- 
ingly from  nowhere,  the  suggestion  that  Japan  was  sure 
to  menace  America  and  that  a  war  was  inevitable.    Next 
the  California  school  excitement,  a  press-fanned  blaze, 
scorched  both  nations. 

Peace  Dove  Versus  Battleships 

Here  President  Roosevelt  faced  the  greatest  moment 
in  his  career.  As  a  threat  to  coerce  California,  he  de- 
clared that  he  would  champion  a  measure  admitting 
Japanese  to  the  privilege  of  naturalization  upon  equal 
terms  with  Europeans.  Whatever  be  the  opinions  of  our 
fellow-citizens  concerning  Colonel  Roosevelt,  on  one  thing 
all  must  agree,  that  he  has  rare  political  vision.  He  saw 
with  unerring  insight  the  one  inevitable  solution  of  the 
difficult  and  delicate  situation  between  the  two  nations. 
Japan  with  admirable  patience  had  borne  the  unjust  and 
irritating  implications  that  our  law,  making  her  people 
ineligible  to  American  citizenship,  carries.  Her  states- 
•  men  refused  to  raise  the  question,  trusting  to  the  Chris- 
tian character  of  our  people  as  certain  to  right  the  wrong 
some  time.  But  the  injustice  was  there  and  its  sting  was 
felt,  though  borne  in  the  spirit  of  the  friendship  that  ani- 


PROLOGUE  n 

mated  the  nation.  It  was  the  one  seed  of  possible  dis- 
cord between  the  two  peoples,  and  President  Roosevelt 
knew  it.  He  also  knew  both  that  its  removal  would  ce- 
ment the  two  great  Pacific  powers  as  no  other  one  thing 
could  and  that  the  opening  of  the  privilege  of  citizenship 
to  Japanese  would  forever  end  the  troublesome  California 
question.  A  stroke  of  world  statesmanship  of  the  high- 
est order  lay  in  his  power.  If  he  had  dealt  it,  he  would 
have  won  a  name  in  Asia  that  would  never  have  been 
dimmed.  It  was  the  greatest  miss  of  a  great  career  in 
the  history  of  our  country.  But  instead  of  this  dove 
of  peace  he  sent  a  battleship  fleet,  and  Japan  responded 
by  expending  a  million  dollars  in  friendly  welcome.  Will 
Mr.  Bryan  grasp  the  like  opportunity? 

We  need  not  review  the  occurrences  of  the  past  few 
years  nor  the  present  anti- Japanese-Pacific  Coast  legis- 
lation which  have  so  complicated  the  situation.  That 
which  faces  us  on  Peace  Sunday  as  a  Christian  people 
is  a  single  question,  What  is  our  nation's  duty  to  Japan  ? 

An  Old  Story 

In  striving  to  answer  this  question  we  must  remember 
that  we  confront  a  situation  demanding  fair  considera- 
tion. The  people  of  California  have  something  to  urge 
upon  their  own  side.  Many  of  the  Japanese  who  go  there 
act  in  a  manner  of  which  their  countrymen  are  heartily 
ashamed,  exactly  as  numbers  of  our  own  fellow-citizens 
have  done  in  Asiatic  ports.  They  are  without  doubt  a 
somewhat  disturbing  factor  in  labour  circles,  though  by 
no  means  so  largely  as  popular  clamour  would  have  us 
believe.  Unquestionably  some  of  them  have  squeezed  em- 
ployers when  they  could,  and  have  depreciated  property 
by  moving  next  to  it.  So  have  the  Jews  in  many  a  city. 
In    fact,    the   arguments    used    by    Californians  sound 


12  PROLOGUE 

strangely  like  pleas  I  have  heard  in  Eastern  States  against 
Greeks,  Syrians,  Italians,  Bohemians,  Hungarians,  and 
other  strangers.  The  trouble  is  that  California  has  had 
little  experience  with  masses  of  down-and-out  Europeans, 
and  when  faced  with  the  foreigner  problem  is  able  to 
make  her  grumblings  tell  for  the  simple  reason  that  the 
nation  has  treated  the  Asiatic  unjustly  in  denying  him 
the  means  to  refute  all  these  charges  by  growing  into 
a  fine  public-spirited  American  citizen.  Look  at  Massa- 
chusetts with  thousands  of  acres  of  her  valleys  and  up- 
lands owned  by  people  with  unpronounceable  European 
names,  whose  habits  are  dirt  plus  industry.  These  peo- 
ple, however,  can  become  citizens  and  in  a  few  years  by 
proving  their  honest  Americanism  not  only  knock  hostile 
argument  to  flinders,  but  win  the  friendship  of  their 
former  detractors. 

Three  Articles  of  Faith 

Then,  too,  many  Californians  really  believe  three 
things  about  Japanese :  First,  that  they  will  never  become 
Americans  if  given  the  chance;  second,  that  if  any  of 
them  should  become  naturalized,  they  are  so  patriotic 
that  they  never  would  be  loyal  to  their  new  government, 
but  in  an  emergency  would  turn  traitors ;  and  third,  that 
they  are  utterly  unassimilable  and  must  always  remain 
un-American. 

Mark,  these  are  all  a  priori  arguments.  They  exist, 
like  old-fashioned  theological  dogmas,  only  in  the  mind. 
There  is  not  one  scintilla  of  evidence  to  back  them  up. 
To  say  to  a  hungry-eyed  boy,  "  You  won't  eat  this  choco- 
late cream  if  I  give  it  to  you,"  and  then  go  on  munch- 
ing it  yourself  is  poor  logic.  Try  the  Japanese  with  the 
privilege  of  naturalization  and  see  whether  he  will  take 
it.     In  some  communities  more  liberal  than  California 


PROLOGUE  13 

here  and  there  a  Japanese  has  been  naturalized.  I  know 
of  cases  where  Japanese  would  give  anything  to  become 
Americans,  because  they  have  fully  identified  themselves 
with  the  country.  So  far  as  experience  goes,  this  first 
plea,  that  Japanese  will  under  no  circumstances  consent 
to  American  citizenship,  is  untrue. 

"Japanese!  Become  Americans" 

As  for  the  second  argument,  listen  to  the  delegate  of 
the  National  Party  sent  to  investigate  conditions  in  Cali- 
fornia, Hon.  A.  Hattori,  who  passed  through  Honolulu. 
Advising  his  countrymen  in  Hawaii  to  secure  American 
citizenship  if  possible,  he  said  :  "  Some  Japanese  think  this 
would  be  disloyalty  to  Japan  and  that  they  would  sacri- 
fice their  national  individuality  by  becoming  American 
citizens.  On  the  contrary,  they  would  enlarge  their  na- 
tional individuality,  becoming  in  effect  world  citizens. 
This  need  not  interfere  with  loyalty  to  one's  mother 
country.  Mr.  Carnegie  in  becoming  an  American  citizen 
does  not  lose  his  loyalty  to  Scotland.  Did  he  not  give 
to  Scotland  the  most  magnificent  of  all  the  libraries  he 
has  endowed  ?  Indeed,  by  loyalty  to  his  mother  country 
does  not  a  man  prove  his  Witness  for  citizenship  in  a  new 
country?  But  in  case  of  war,  what?  What  would  be 
the  duty  of  a  loyal  Japanese  in  case  of  war  between 
America  and  Japan?  Let  me  answer  this  by  an  illustra- 
tion from  our  own  history.  The  retainer  of  a  Daimyo 
became  the  adopted  son  of  the  Daimyo  of  another  prov- 
ince by  marrying  into  his  family,  and  according  to  custom 
assumed  allegiance  to  the  new  lord.  Later  on  war  arose 
between  the  two  clans..  The  young  Samurai  was  in  a 
quandary.  How  could  he  take  up  arms  against  his  for- 
mer lord  ?  How  fight  his  own  father  ?  Yet,  on  the  other 
hand,  how  could  he  be  untrue  to  his  new  lord  ?  He  fought 


H  PROLOGUE 

it  out  thus :  '  To  be  untrue  to  my  new  lord  would  be  an 
act  of  treachery  unworthy  of  the  respect  and  name  of 
my  former  master.  I  will  fight  for  my  present  chief  and 
by  my  valour  add  to  the  glory  of  the  Daimyo  who  trained 
me  in  the  principles  of  the  samurai.'  Japan  has  ever  ap- 
plauded that  hero  as  true  to  the  spirit  of  Bushido." 

That  was  a  splendid  refutation,*  here  in  Honolulu,  of 
this  baseless  charge  against  Japanese  honour,  that  we 
cannot  trust  the  loyalty  of  any  of  these  people  who  decide 
to  become  American  citizens.  Those  of  us  who  have 
proved  the  mettle  of  that  honour  know  how  false  to 
Yamato-damashii,  the  spirit  of  Japan,  any  such  argu- 
ment is. 

As  for  assimilability,  we  who  have  lived  in  the  Eastern 
States  have  heard  this  worn-out  plea  with  reference  to 
almost  every  South  European  nationality.  The  Japanese 
is  just  as  human  as  any  other  kind  of  man  and  after 
years  of  study  of  him  I  will  back  him  for  adaptability 
to  conditions  and  for  harmonious  response  to  environ- 
ment against  any  racial  specimen  of  genus  homo  pro- 
ducible. In  my  experience  his  forte  par  excellence  is 
to  land  on  his  feet  in  any  emergency.  That  he  cannot 
and  will  not  make  a  good  American  is  all  moonshine, 
and  not  the  Kentucky  mountain  brand,  either. 

♦This  remarkable  address  of  Hon.  A.  Hattori  before  a  vast 
throng  of  enthusiastic  Japanese  had  four  main  points:  first, 
be  loyal  to  Japan  and  your  Emperor  (this  point  was  fully  re- 
ported in  the  American  press :  the  others  were  not)  ;  second, 
become  American  citizens  if  you  can;  third,  by  becoming 
Americans  you  do  not  lose  but  enlarge  your  national  indi- 
viduality, you  become  cosmopolitan;  fourth,  after  becoming 
Americans  if  war  should  break  forth  between  the  two  nations, 
justify  your  Japanese  nobility  of  nature  by  fighting  right  loyally 
for  your  new  country  against  the  old. 


PROLOGUE  IS 

Naturalization  the  Crux 

It  is  singular  how  this  entire  question  revolves  about 
that  inevitable  privilege  of  naturalization.  Governor 
Johnson  is  right  enough.  The  California  law  is  not  so 
much  at  fault,  though  the  motive  for  it  may  be.  Other 
states  have  a  like  law.  Aliens  who  will  not  become  citi- 
zens have  no  inherent  right  to  own  land  in  a  community 
with  which  they  refuse  to  amalgamate.  The  trouble  is 
with  the  national  law  that  will  not  let  the  Eastern  Asiatic 
become  a  citizen.  What  right  has  President  Wilson,  with 
a  beam  in  his  eye  as  big  as  a  third  of  the  continent  of 
Asia,  to  scold  Governor  Johnson  for  cherishing  a  mote 
the  size  of  a  score  thousand  acres  of  California  land?  If  "^ 
the  nation  is  honest  in  not  wanting  to  make  enemies  of 
the  two  best  friends, — ^yes,  I  think  I  am  entirely  within 
the  truth  in  saying  the  two  best  friends  we  -have,  Japan 
and  China, — let  it  stop  treating  these  two  peoples  as 
though  they  were  a  different  species  of  human  animal 
from  the  godlike  Caucasian  and  his  black  man  Friday. 

All  this  talk  of  Mongolian  descent  is  laughable.  We 
welcome  the  Hungarians  to  citizenship,  yet  their  an- 
cestors were  pure  Mongolians,  and  many  of  the  Russians 
have  far  more  Mongolian  blood  than  the  Japanese.  The 
distinction  will  not  hold  water.  In  this  day  of  human 
solidarity,  when  we  are  learning  how  intricately  races 
have  blended  and  how  truly  alike  physically  and  spiritu- 
ally we  all  are,  it  is  impossible  to  draw  such  lines  as  Mon- 
golian or  white  or  black.  No  supreme  court  could  do 
it  with  scientific  accuracy,  even  though  its  members  were 
the  first  experts  on  blood  analysis  in  the  world.  In  fact, 
the  papers  tell  us  that  a  Hindu  has  just  passed  muster 
as  a  candidate  for  American  citizenship,  though  he  is  as 
brown  or  yellow  as  many  a  Mongolian,  on  the  score  of 


l6  PROLOGUE 

his  being  an  Aryan,  a  white  man,  with  white  blood,  I 
suppose. 

The  Christian  Way  Out 

No,  the  question  can  be  treated  by  Christian  America 
only  in  one  way.  Jesus  Christ  pointed  out  the  way. 
"  One  is  your  Master,  even  the  Christ,  and  all  ye  are 
brethren."  God  waited  long  to  demonstrate  this  truth 
on  a  grand  scale.  He  prepared  a  suitable  locus,  a  broad 
continent  beautiful  as  Paradise,  fertile  as  Eden,  rich  as 
the  fabled  gardens  of  the  Hesperides.  He  entrusted  it 
to  a  handful  of  pioneers  who  accepted  it  in  trust  for  all 
peoples.  Your  fathers  and  mine  were  numbered  in  that 
God-handful.  As  descendants  of  such  sires,  are  we  will- 
ing to  prove  false  to  that  trust  or  deny  the  only  guaran- 
tee of  human  liberty,  firm  as  the  Rock  of  Ages,  "  One 
is  your  Master,  even  the  Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren  "  ? 

The  noblest  utterance  on  this  question  of  Japan  and 
America  which  I  have  heard  was  not  spoken  by  our 
preacher  President  Roosevelt,  nor  our  lawyer  President 
Taft,  nor  our  scholar  President  Wilson.  It  came  from 
no  American  prophet.  It  was  uttered  by  a  man  whom 
our  grandfathers  would  have  called  a  heathen.  Unpro- 
fessed  disciple  of  Jesus  though  he  be,  I  think  of  him  as 
one  of  those  other  sheep  whom  the  Great  Shepherd  is 
bringing  to  that  one  flock  whither  we  all  are  tending. 
Count  Okuma,  the  grand  old  statesman  of  Japan.  He 
said  in  Tokyo  lately,  calming  the  excited  minds  of  his 
countrymen :  "  Diplomacy  or  law  or  statesmanship  will 
not  work  in  this  case:  the  power  of  Christianity — the 
teaching  of  the  brotherhood  of  all  men  and  universal 
peace — alone  will  save  the  threatening  situation.  Chris- 
tianity is  stronger  in  America  than  in  any  other  country 
and  the  concerted  efforts  of  the  Christian  workers  here 


PROLOGUE  17 

and  in  America  will  achieve  what  we  all  have  at  heart." 
In  the  face  of  that  appeal  re-echoed  from  myriads  of 
hearts  of  the  noblest  men  of  the  Orient,  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  America  has  only  one  answer  to  the 
question,  What  is  our  nation's  duty  to  Japan?  It  is, 
apply  that  word  "  all  men  are  brethren  "  to  our  dealings 
with  the  man  whom  our  nation  calls  Mongolian.  Open 
our  privilege  of  naturalization  to  him  on  equal  terms 
with  the  European.  By  all  means  stiffen  these  terms 
until  they  insure  the  granting  of  our  citizenship  to  no 
alien  who  has  not  passed  a  creditable  examination  in  the 
English  language  upon  American  civics,  but  let  them 
apply  impartially  to  the  man  of  Eastern  Asia  as  to  all 
others.  Treat  him  justly  and  honourably  as  a  brother  and 
the  future  of  this  great  ocean  will  be  mirrored  in  its 
prophetic  and  beautiful  name,  Pacific. 

Rare  Hour  for  Real  Men 

And  whence  should  the  plea  to  President  and  Congress 
thus  to  cement  the  lasting  peace  and  friendship  of  three 
great  nations  arise  if  not  from  Hawaii,  to  whom  the 
Asiatic  has  meant  so  much?  We  have  been  engaged  in 
an  earnest  campaign  at  the  nation's  capital  to  save  the 
hard-earned  prosperity  of  scores  of  years  of  strenuous 
endeavour.  Good!  Let  that  work  go  on.  Now  we  are 
faced  with  a  missionary  opportunity  of  real  greatness,  an 
opportunity  for  exercise  of  world  statesmanship,  a  chance 
to  utter  an  unselfish  appeal  for  justice  and  brotherhood. 
It  will  not  long  be  ours.  Why  not  show  Washington 
that  we  care  for  some  things  besides  sugar  dividends, 
that  we  stand  for  the  humanity  of  those  who  have  helped 
us  swell  our  fortunes?  It  is  a  rare  hour  for  real  men. 
Is  it  a  judgment  day  for  this  mid-sea  commonwealth? 

DOREMUS  SCUDDER. 


I 

THE  MEETING  OF  TWO  WORLDS 

"Over  the  gate  of  the  twentieth  century  shall  be  written  the 
words:  'This  is  the  way  to  virtue  and  to  justice  and  to  peace."* 

WHEN  Johann  Gottlieb  Fichte  uttered  these  pro- 
phetic words  the  German  philosopher  was  yet 
upon  the  threshold  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Between  him  and  us  lies  a  vast  stretch  of  time,  and  in 
the  intervening  period  many  momentous  events  have  oc- 
curred, each  contributing  its  quota  to  the  progress  o£ 
human  society,  but  the  new  era  into  which  we  have 
entered  is  yet  far  from  the  desired  haven,  where  wrongs 
are  righted  and  oppressions  relieved  in  accord  with  jus- 
tice and  humanity.  Like  the  pot  of  gold  at  the  end  of 
the  rainbow,  the  golden  age,  the  vision  of  the  seers  and 
the  hope  of  the  prophets,  has  persistently  eluded  the  men 
who  have  followed  it  with  panting  eagerness.  Again  and 
again  has  it  flashed  its  fire  of  hope,  and  again  and  again 
has  that  very  fire  danced  the  will-o'-the-wisp  fantasy 
of  mirth,  leaving  the  weary  pursuers  helpless  and  hope- 
less in  the  dark. 

The  French  Revolution  terminated  the  arbitrary  rule 
of  the  aristocracy  and  declared  all  men  equal  before  the 
law.  The  abolition  of  slavery  afforded  men  a  truer  sense 
of  justice.  Schools  opened  their  doors  alike  to  the  rich 
and  to  the  poor.  Taxes  were  imposed  upon  exalted 
princes  as  well  as  upon  humble  toilers.  Official  posi- 
tions were  no  longer  the  monopoly  of  a  privileged  few. 

19 


20  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

The  franchise  was  extended  to  the  populace,  freedom 
of  speech  was  guaranteed,  while  the  church  was  forced 
to  surrender  the  imposition  of  her  dogmas  and  her  arbi- 
trary authority  before  the  onslaught  of  reason  and  lib- 
erty. It  was  as  if  sky  and  earth,  after  an  Arctic  winter, 
had  become  suddenly  effulgent  with  a  glorious  burst  of 
sunshine,  and  men  once  again  fancied  that  the  world 
was  at  last  being  lifted  out  of  the  darkness  of  oppression 
and  injustice,  and  transported  into  the  lighted  realm  of 
freedom  and  fraternity. 

Yes,  the  old  political  system  was  gone,  taking  with 
it  the  old  social  order  and  much  that  had  inevitably  re- 
sulted from  both.  And  yet  the  day  of  salvation  had  not 
come.  Scarcely  had  the  Western  States  emerged  from 
the  tempests  of  political  revolutions  when  the  cloud  of 
economic  unrest  began  to  darken  the  social  horizon.  The 
great  inventive  geniuses  of  Europe  and  America — New- 
comen  and  Watt,  Hargreaves  and  Crompton,  Kay  and 
Arkwright,  Fulton  and  Whitney — ^had  contrived  to  har- 
ness the  forces  of  nature,  making  them  the  co-workers 
of  mankind  in  the  production  of  commodities  and  in  the 
pursuit  of  commerce.  The  invention  of  the  spinning 
jenny,  the  power-loom  weaving,  the  steam  hammer,  and 
the  locomotive  engine,  brought  in  its  train  the  recon- 
struction of  the  industrial  system.  And  the  advent  of 
the  new  system  of  industry  precipitated  the  war  between 
the  bourgeoisie  and  the  proletariat,  a  social  war  which 
is  yet  being  waged  in  all  modernized  countries,  and  to 
which  we  know  not  when  the  end  will  come.  We  have 
rung  out  the  old  day  of  political  oppression,  but  the  day 
that  has  dawned  upon  us  is  equally  full  of  alarms  and 
fraught  with  equal  dangers. 

Nor  is  this  all.  Steam  and  electricity,  having  on  the 
one  hand  revolutionized  the  system  of  industry,  have  on 


THE  MEETING  OF  TWO   WORLDS  21 

the  other  inaugurated  a  new  relationship  between  the 
Orient  and  the  Occident.  The  vast  expanses  of  water 
separating  continent  from  continent  were  at  last  spanned 
by  means  of  cable  and  steamship.  From  East  and  West 
merchant  vessels  and  warships  approached  Asia,  while 
railroads  and  telegraph  lines  penetrated  the  solitudes 
of  Siberia.  That  sense  of  space  which  dismayed  our  fore- 
fathers no  longer  baffles  us.  Thus  for  the  first  time  in 
history  Asia  stood  face  to  face  with  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica. Did  they  meet  each  other  on  terms  of  good-will 
and  friendship?  Was  it  a  helping  hand  that  the  strong 
West  extended  to  the  weak  East? 

Asia,  which  had  already  known  something  of  the 
modus  operandi  of  the  Portuguese  and  Spanish  conquis- 
tadores,  naturally  looked  askance  at  the  new  visitors 
from  Europe  and  America  who  came  on  Leviathan-like 
warships  armed  with  monstrous  guns.  Especially  were 
the  Japanese  sceptical  of  the  Occidentals,  because  the 
Dutch,  from  the  selfish  motive  of  monopolizing  Japanese 
trade,  had  deliberately  poisoned  the  leading  minds  of 
Japan  by  misrepresenting  other  Western  nations.  Nor 
can  it  be  denied  that  some  of  these  newcomers  did  not 
deserve  the  welcome  which  they  expected  from  the  Ori- 
entals. That  their  intentions  were  not  always  holy  their 
subsequent  activities  in  the  Far  Eastern  countries  suffi- 
ciently attest.  Even  Japan  might  have  ceased  to  exist  as 
an  independent  nation  had  she  not  quickly  aroused  her- 
self from  her  lethargy  and  fallen  in  line  with  the  ag- 
gressive, strenuous  West. 

In  the  meantime,  the  new  industrial  system  increased 
the  productive  capacity  of  the  Occidental  nations  to  such 
an  extent  that  they  were  eager  to  find  outlet  for  the 
manufactures  which  they  could  not  consume  at  home. 
Moreover,  the  same  industrial  revolution  begot  financial 


22  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

magnates  and  captains  of  industry  who  came  to  exert 
potent  influence  not  only  in  the  world  of  trade  and  traffic, 
but  in  the  arena  of  politics  and  diplomacy.  These  men, 
not  content  with  controlling  the  finances  and  commerce 
in  their  own  countries,  stretched  their  hands  across  the 
seas,  intent  upon  grasping  whatever  might  come  within 
their  reach.  The  enormous  fortunes  they  built  up  were 
in  themselves  formidable  enough,  but  when  they  knew 
that  their  governments,  with  all  the  force  of  their  navies 
and  armies,  were  ready  to  back  them,  they  showed  no 
hesitation  in  embarking  upon  a  scheme  of  exploitation  in 
countries  whose  doors  had  just  been  opened  by  the  im- 
pact of  foreign  cannon-balls.  So  from  the  four  winds 
of  heaven  their  representatives  came  East  with  ships 
laden  with  gold  and  merchandise.  The  merchandise  they 
were  determined  to  sell  to  the  natives  whether  the  na- 
tives would  have  it  or  not;  the  gold  they  loaned  to  the 
natives,  securing  in  exchange  various  concessions — rail- 
road, mining,  telegraph,  and  what  not. 

Commerce,  which  we  are  wont  to  call  an  ambassador 
of  peace,  is  often  a  cause  of  enmity  and  trouble,  espe- 
cially when  a  strong,  aggressive  nation  comes  to  trade 
with  a  backward,  inefficient  nation.  The  Orient,  when 
brought  by  the  intermediary  of  trade  face  to  face  with 
the  Occident,  had  not  yet  awakened  from  a  torpor  of 
centuries.  Isolation  and  the  consequent  lack  of  compe- 
tition had  arrested  its  progress  and  incapacitated  it  to 
meet  the  Occident  on  terms  of  equality,  whether  in  arms 
or  in  the  arts  of  peace.  What  more  natural  than  that 
the  Occidental,  misled  by  external  evidence,  should  re- 
gard the  Oriental  as  inferior  to  the  Western  races? 
What  more  natural  than  that  he  should  come  to  think 
that  in  dealing  with  Asiatics  he  could  dispense  with  all 
ceremony  and  disregard  all  dictates  of  justice  and  fair- 


THE  MEETING  OF  TWO  WORLDS  23 

ness?  He  was  there  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  filling 
his  purse  at  the  expense  of  the  pocket  of  the  Oriental. 
His  insolence,  his  overbearing  manner,  his  assumption  of 
superiority  were  enough  to  set  the  blood  of  the  Oriental 
patriot  boiling.  It  was  the  acts  of  such  men  which  Pro- 
fessor Sydney  L.  Gulick  fitly  terms  the  "  White  Peril " 
in  the  Far  East.  But  for  the  ameliorating  influence 
of  a  handful  of  those  Westerners  who  came  to  the  East 
with  sympathy  and  for  loving  service,  the  Oriental  esti- 
mate of  the  Occident  would  have  been  less  friendly  than 
it  is. 

The  Occidental  came  to  the  East  with  the  confirmed 
idea  that  he  was  of  a  superior  caste,  of  a  race  which 
Providence  had  ordained  should  rule  the  world.  So  long 
as  his  dark-skinned  neighbours  recognized  his  claim  for 
superiority  and  acquiesced  in  his  condescension  and  con- 
nived at  his  swagger,  he  had  little  to  complain  of.  His 
pretensions,  however,  were  not  long  permitted  to  remain 
unchallenged.  Japan,  having  acquired  some  knowledge 
of  the  arts  and  sciences  of  Europe  and  America,  cast 
aside  the  cloak  of  mediaevalism,  and  boldly  stepped  into 
the  arena  of  strenuous  competition.  She  reconstructed 
her  government,  adopted  modern  laws,  and  administered 
them  successfully;  she  reorganized  her  industrial  system 
and  her  finances;  she  built  up  a  powerful  navy  and  or- 
ganized a  formidable  army;  and  with  these  records  to 
her  credit  she  determined  to  force  the  recognition  of 
the  West  as  a  civilized  nation  and  assert  her  legitimate 
rights  as  an  independent  state. 

Acting  upon  this  determination,  Japan  set  out  to  re- 
gain the  rights  and  prerogatives  which  she  had  been 
forced  to  resign  in  favour  of  the  foreign  residents  within 
her  jurisdiction.  First,  she  undertook  the  revision  of 
the  treaties  which  the  Western  Powers  had  wrested  from 


24  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

her  when  she  was  yet  totally  inexperienced  in  matters 
of  diplomacy.  This  led  to  the  abolition  of  exterritori- 
ality, an  imperhim  in  imperio,  which  exempted  the  for- 
eigners from  the  jurisdiction  of  Japanese  law  courts. 
Then  she  proposed  to  impose  taxes  upon  the  foreign 
property-owners  on  the  same  basis  on  which  the  natives 
were  taxed.  To  this  proposal  the  foreign  residents  in 
Yokohama  strongly  objected,  and  the  matter  was  referred 
to  the  Hague  Tribunal.  Again,  the  foreigners  demanded 
extensive  tracts  of  land  in  and  about  Yokohama  for  a 
race  track,  club  sites,  golf  links,  and  so  forth,  without 
offering  any  compensation  for  the  concession.  With  the 
growth  of  the  city,  the  golf  links  thus  obtained  by  the 
foreign  community  became  a  great  obstacle  to  the  traffic 
and  the  development  of  its  business  district.  Conse- 
quently, the  municipal  government  of  Yokohama  humbly 
requested  the  foreign  community  to  return  the  land  to 
the  city,  offering  in  its  lieu  a  desirable  site  with  ample 
means  of  communication.  Did  the  foreigners  accept  this 
reasonable  proposition  with  grace  if  not  gratitude?  Of 
course  not.  They  demurred  and  grumbled,  and  not  un- 
til the  municipal  government  paid  for  all  the  improve- 
ments upon  the  old  ground  as  well  as  for  all  the  im- 
provements that  had  to  be  installed  on  the  new,  did  the 
foreigners  agree  to  vacate  the  golf  links  which  they  had 
been  using  for  many  years  without  paying  a  single  cent 
for  the  privilege.  Would  any  Western  nation  tolerate 
such  arrogance  and  such  disregard  of  fairness? 

While  the  government,  central  and  local,  was  striving 
to  regain  the  rights  which  had  been  surrendered  to  sat- 
isfy exacting  foreigners,  the  native  merchants  and  traders 
began  to  see  the  advantage  of  opening  direct  trade  with 
firms  in  Europe  and  America.  This  naturally  resulted 
in  the  elimination  of  many  of  the  foreign  commission 


THE  MEETING  OF  TWO  WORLDS  25 

merchants  whose  methods  of  operation  were  not  always 
honourable.  How  much  has  the  story  of  the  Japanese 
lack  of  commercial  honour  been  exaggerated  by  the  dis- 
gruntled foreign  merchants  whose  fortunes  began  to  de- 
cline with  the  awakening  of  the  native  traders!  Then, 
too,  the  Japanese  firms,  financial  or  trading,  having  ac- 
quired sufficient  knowledge  and  experience  in  the  busi- 
ness in  which  they  were  engaged,  no  longer  felt  the  need 
of  Western  tutorage,  and  gradually  discharged  foreign 
advisers  and  employes  at  the  termination  of  their  con- 
tract terms.  Then  the  Japanese  were  charged  with  in- 
gratitude. 

These  are  but  a  few  of  the  many  instances  showing  the 
general  attitude  of  the  Westerners  towards  the  Asiatic 
people.  I  am  not  blind  to  the  fact  that,  amid  the  greed 
and  vulgarism  displayed  by  the  fortune-seekers  from 
the  West,  there  were  of  course  a  number  of  men  whose 
visions  were  clear,  whose  minds  were  noble,  and  whose 
sense  of  justice  and  honour  could  not  condone  the 
ignoble  conduct  of  their  short-sighted  brothers.  For  the 
invaluable  services  rendered  by  these  men  Japan  owes  a 
debt  which  she  will  never  be  able  to  pay  in  full. 
**  Whether  in  Japanese  pay  or  not,  as  hirelings,  or  as 
guests,  or  as  forces  healthfully  stimulating,  who  from 
their  own  governments  or  societies  received  stipend, 
or  self-impelled  wrought  for  Japan's  good,  their  work 
abides."  Between  1869  and  1900,  no  less  than  five  thou- 
sand Americans  and  Europeans  were  invited  to  Japan 
to  assist  her  in  the  rehabilitation  of  her  aflFairs,  political, 
economic,  social,  educational.  A  few  Dutchmen  taught 
the  Japanese  the  rudiments  of  anatomy  and  of  a  rational 
system  of  medicine.  A  coterie  of  Englishmen  undertook 
the  mint,  and  also  laid  a  foundation  for  the  powerful  navy 
which  in  later  periods  annihilated  the  Chinese  fleet  and 


2^  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

sent  the  Russian  Armada  to  the  bottom  of  the  Japan 
Sea.  To  a  Frenchman  was  assigned  the  task  of  codify- 
ing laws.  Germans  took  the  army  in  hand  and  formed 
a  nucleus  of  what  was  destined  to  become  a  formidable 
military  power.  Germans  also  directed  the  whole  higher 
medical  instruction  of  the  Empire.  And  most  important 
of  all,  Americans,  whether  as  missionaries  or  engaged  by 
the  Government,  undertook  the  reform  of  the  entire 
educational  system.  Beginning  probably  with  Professor 
Raphael  Pumpelly,  who  went  to  Japan  in  the  seventies, 
almost  twelve  hundred  American  school-teachers  were 
directly  or  indirectly  engaged  in  educational  work  in  the 
Mikado's  Empire.  The  New  Japan,  then,  is  as  much  the 
creation  of  foreigners  as  it  is  the  product  of  the  native 
patriots.  Such  names  as  Satow,  Aston,  Gubbins,  Wag- 
ener,  Boissonade,  Hepburn,  Verbeck,  Griffis,  and  Clark 
are  still  dear  to  all  Japanese  of  the  educated  class. 
Japan  has  not  yet  forgotten  either  the  singer  or  the 
song. 

And  yet  the  attitude  of  such  well-wishers  of  Japan 
was  not  the  attitude  of  the  Occident  in  general.  The 
Occident,  in  short,  expected  of  the  Orient  little  but  ser- 
vility and  submission.  To  the  European  Asia  was  a  land 
which  he  was  by  right  divine  at  liberty  to  exploit  for  his 
own  benefit.  The  moment  the  man  of  Asia  stands  on 
his  own  rights  and  tries  to  deal  with  the  European  on 
reciprocal  terms,  the  latter  feels  chagrined  and  even  out- 
raged. The  vicissitudes  and  hardships  which  Japan  ex- 
perienced in  her  efforts  to  abolish  exterritoriality  offer 
eloquent  testimony  to  this  statement.  How  many  Cabi- 
nets foundered  upon  the  rock  of  treaty  revision !  What 
tragedies,  what  episodes  marked  the  history  of  exterrito- 
riality in  Japan !  A  diplomat,  one  of  the  greatest  states- 
men of  New  Japan,  almost  sacrificed  his  life  in  his  ef- 


THE  MEETING  OF  TWO   WORLDS  27 

forts  to  cut  the  Gordian  knot.  It  was  only  after  the 
Mikado's  Empire  displayed  a  military  skill  and  prowess 
of  a  superior  order  in  the  war  with  China  that  the  West- 
ern world  rubbed  its  eyes  and  began  to  take  Japan  seri- 
ously. As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Chinese  war  added  noth- 
ing to  the  strength  of  the  Empire,  much  less  did  it 
contribute  to  its  culture  and  civilization.  The  same  holds 
true  in  regard  to  the  war  with  Russia.  Indeed,  the  two 
mighty  conflicts  made  the  island  empire  materially  weak, 
as  wars  always  must.  And  yet  the  Japanese  was  virtu- 
ally given  to  understand  that,  unless  he  spoke  in  the 
language  of  shot  and  shell,  the  Western  nations  would 
never  listen.  We  of  the  West  are  fond  of  calling  our- 
selves civilized  and  intellectual,  but  to  what  e:^tent  have 
we  purged  ourselves  of  our  primitive  love  of  brutal  force  ? 
We  admire  nations  that  battle  and  men  who  deal  blows 
in  order  to  chastise  the  unjust,  making  but  lukewarm 
efforts  to  right  wrongs  and  relieve  oppression  before  the 
wronged  and  the  oppressed  are  compelled  to  appeal  to 
force.  The  Russo-Japanese  War  could  have  been  averted 
had  England  and  America,  to  whom  Japan  earnestly 
appealed  for  assistance,  exercised  their  influence  in  good 
season  to  check  the  Muscovite  intrigue  to  rob  the  Japa- 
nese of  the  Liaotang  Peninsula,  which  they  had  secured 
from  China. 

Aside  from  the  conflict  of  capital  and  labour,  the  great- 
est problem  of  the  age,  and  of  ages  to  come,  is  that 
resulting  from  contact  between  the  East  and  the  West. 
Of  this  great  problem  the  Japanese  question  in  America 
is  but  a  small  fragment.  The  complete  solution  of  the 
Japanese  question,  therefore,  seems  hardly  possible  with- 
out a  complete  readjustment  of  relations  between  the 
Eastern  and  the  Western  world.  It  requires  the  removal 
of  mutual  misconceptions  not  only  with  regard  to  po- 


28  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

litical  and  commercial  affairs,  but  also  in  connection  with 
the  deeper  problems  of  the  spirit.  It  requires  on  each 
side  a  better  understanding  and  a  higher  appreciation  by 
each  of  the  culture  and  civilization  of  the  other.  Most 
of  all,  it  requires  on  the  part  of  the  stronger  and  more 
aggressive  West  a  stricter  observance  of  the  principles 
of  justice  and  fairness  in  dealing  with  the  weaker 
East. 

Viewed  in  this  light,  the  question  of  the  treatment  of 
the  Japanese  in  America  is  a  question  infinitely  more 
important  than  it  may  appear  at  first  glance.  It  is  a 
question  of  the  contact  of  two  great  worlds,  the  collision, 
if  you  will,  of  two  great  civilizations.  This  contact,  this 
collision  is  not  unlike  the  meeting  of  two  mighty  glaciers. 
That  the  mingling  should  at  first  be  attended  with  up- 
heavals and  grindings  is  inevitable,  and  yet  the  conflu- 
ence soon  turns  into  one  stream  in  which  trace  is  no 
longer  discernible  of  two  glaciers  which  a  moment  since 
dashed  against  each  other.  Will  not  the  mingling  of 
two  civilizations  present  much  the  same  aspect?  Will 
not  the  suspicions,  the  jealousies,  the  enmities,  the  dis- 
criminations which  yet  mar  relations  between  the  Orient 
and  the  Occident  eventually  give  way  to  harmony  and  fra- 
ternal feeling?  As  we  learn  from  the  Koran, ''  God  alone 
knows  the  hidden  mysteries  of  days  to  come,  and  to  Him 
alone  are  the  gates  of  the  secrets  of  the  future  revealed." 
Yet,  if  we  walk  in  the  light  in  which  God  ordained  hu- 
manity to  walk,  may  we  not  rightly  hope  that  the  con- 
flict of  the  two  worlds  will  ultimately  end  in  friendship 
based  upon  mutual  understanding  of  each  other's  culture, 
civilization,  and  institutions? 

The  point  is  that  the  West  must  first  of  all  divest  itself 
of  its  age-long  prejudice  against  the  East.  The  past  few 
centuries  placed  the  Caucasian  race  in  the  forefront  of 


THE   MEETING   OF  TWO   WORLDS  29 

civilization,  but  in  the  life  of  the  universe  a  period  so 
brief  is  little  more  significant  than  a  bubble  on  the  face 
of  an  ocean.  In  the  years  to  come  Asia  may  again  attain 
an  eminence  of  civilization  which  will  overshadow  the 
civilization  of  Europe.  In  the  meantime,  let  us  deal  with 
it  in  sympathy.  If  sympathy  is  not  the  forte  of  the  busy 
West,  let  us  at  least  act  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  fair 
play  and  a  square  deal.  "  People  are  afraid,"  says  the 
Hon.  James  Bryce,  "  of  a  conflict  of  races ;  people 
think  that  some  of  the  great  ancient  races  of  the  East 
may  be  led  into  mortal  struggle  with  the  European  peo- 
ples. If  our  attitude  to  them  were  governed  by  Chris- 
tian principles,  there  would  be  no  risk  of  any  such  con- 
flict. I  hope  and  I  believe  that  it  will  be  averted  if  we 
try  to  apply  in  our  national  policy  those  Christian  princi- 
ples which  we  profess.  The  sense  of  human  brotherhood 
was  never  more  needed  than  now,  at  this  precious,  this 
critical  moment.  It  is  needed  not  only  by  all  who  come 
in  contact  with  these  races;  it  is  needed  by  men  who 
come  there  for  business;  it  is  needed  by  soldiers  and 
sailors;  it  is  needed  even  by  private  travellers  in  these 
lands." 

In  the  early  days  of  our  intercourse  with  China  and 
Japan — the  days  of  Anson  Burlingame,  of  Commodore 
Perry,  and  of  Townsend  Harris — our  policy  towards  the 
Orient  was  based  upon  the  Christian  principles  of  justice 
and  righteousness.  It  was  disinterested  and  humane ;  it 
sprang  from  a  sincere  desire  to  help  backward  peoples 
towards  the  path  of  modern  civilization. 

In  the  fall  of  1852,  President  Fillmore  despatched  to 
Japan  an  expedition  commanded  by  Commodore  Perry. 
The  oflicial  letter  which  Perry  was  entrusted  to  deliver 
to  the  court  of  the  Sunrise  Empire  opened  with  these 
felicitous  words : 


30  ASIA   AT  THE  DOOR 

^'  Great  and  Good  Friend  : — I  send  you  this  public 
letter  by  Commodore  Matthew  C.  Perry,  an  officer  of  the 
highest  rank  in  the  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  com- 
mander of  the  squadron  now  visiting  Your  Imperial 
Majesty's  dominions.  I  have  directed  Commodore  Perry 
to  assure  Your  Imperial  Majesty  that  I  entertain  the 
kindest  feelings  towards  Your  Majesty's  person  and  gov- 
ernment, and  that  I  have  no  other  object  in  sending  him 
to  Japan  but  to  propose  to  Your  Imperial  Majesty  that 
the  United  States  and  Japan  should  live  in  friendship  and 
have  commercial  intercourse  with  each  other." 

The  letter  was  delivered  in  July,  1853,  and  a  treaty 
of  amity  and  commerce  soon  followed.  Describing  this 
memorable  event,  one  of  our  popular  historians  of  some 
three  decades  ago  penned  a  passage  which  may  be  taken 
as  a  fair  expression  of  the  generous  and  broad  sentiment 
which  still  seemed  to  animate  the  America  of  his  age. 
"  Providence  having  bestowed  the  whole  earth  on  the 
children  of  men/'  says  this  historian,  "  such  isolation 
[as  was  maintained  by  Japan]  is  defeating  altogether 
that  beneficial  purpose;  for  should  other  nations  follow 
the  example  of  Japan,  and  refuse  to  communicate  with 
their  neighbours,  there  would  be  an  end  of  all  commerce, 
of  all  progress,  of  all  civilization, — industry  would  be 
smitten  with  paralysis,  and  men  would  regard  the  in- 
habitants of  adjoining  countries  as  enemies." 

It  was  this  optimism,  this  breadth  of  view,  this  un- 
feigned love  for  what  is  right  and  just,  springing  from 
the  eternal  principles  embodied  in  our  Declaration  of 
Independence — it  was  this  peculiarly  noble  characteristic 
which  placed  us  in  a  position  totally  different  from  that 
of  scheming  empires  and  self-seeking  monarchies,  and 
thus  won  us  the  respect  and  friendship  of  Oriental  na- 
tions.   Yet,  in  the  light  of  our  Oriental  policy  in  more 


THE  MEETING  OF  TWO   WORLDS  3I 

recent  years,  can  we  conscientiously  say  that  we  have 
not  receded  from  that  enviable  position  ?  We  have  come 
to  allow  our  national  policies  to  be  too  greatly  influenced 
by  the  selfish  desires  of  great  business  interests  and  by 
the  irrational  clamours  of  the  purblind  masses.  The 
enormous  opportunities  for  which  this  country  is  noted, 
coupled  with  the  influence  of  the  great  Industrial  Revo- 
lution, have  rapidly  created  a  sort  of  financial  oligarchy 
which,  though  holding  no  ostensible  political  or  social 
privilege,  wields  a  formidable  power  by  virtue  of  the 
money  which  it  controls. 

We  have  become  a  nation  so  engrossed  in  the  pursuit 
of  gold  and  in  the  desire  to  satisfy  material  wants  as 
to  hold  most  other  things  secondary  to  that  one  consid- 
eration. It  seems  as  if  these  significant  lines  of  Matthew 
Arnold's, 

"What  shelter  to  grow  ripe  is  ours? 
What  leisure  to  grow  wise?" 

were  written  especially  to  describe  our  present  condition 
of  life.  In  such  an  age  it  is  but  too  natural  that  the 
ordinary  citizen,  upon  whose  shoulders  rests  responsi- 
bility for  public  welfare,  should  allow  his  private  busi- 
ness interest  to  wean  him  from  the  conduct  of  public 
aflPairs.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  vital  questions  of  na- 
tional policy  should  come  to  be  relegated  more  and  more 
to  the  hands  of  professional  politicians,  who  are  either 
the  cat*s-paw  of  financial  cliques  or  the  mouthpiece  of 
the  trade  unions?  Even  the  dignified  doctrine  of  James 
Monroe,  that  we  should  be  the  commanding  arbiter  of 
our  own  affairs  and  protect  against  the  intriguing  mon- 
archs  of  Europe  those  infant  republics  to  the  southward 
which  had  just  shaken  off  the  yoke  of  Spanish  despotism, 
has  been  turned  at  the  hands  of  the  manipulators  of 


32  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

money  and  of  the  oligarchy  of  labour  into  a  tool  with 
which  to  frustrate  the  peaceful  bona  Me  undertakings  of 
an  Oriental  people  in  Mexico  and  South  America. 

When  we  ponder  our  present  attitude  towards  Japan, 
that  classic  letter,  which  Commodore  Perry  delivered  to 
the  ruler  of  Japan  some  sixty  years  ago,  becomes  almost 
an  anomaly.  We  forced  open  the  doors  of  Japan :  now 
we  close  our  doors  to  the  Japanese.  Even  students  are 
no  longer  admitted  to  our  country  unless  their  expenses 
of  living  and  education  are  sufficiently  guaranteed  by  the 
wealth  and  standing  of  their  parents.  Would  that  money 
and  talent  might  go  hand-in-hand !  That  we  are  anxious 
to  remain  friendly  with  Japan  it  is  needless  to  say,  but 
how  can  you  expect  two  nations  to  be  friendly  towards 
each  other  when  either  nation  persistently  assumes  the 
attitude  of  a  provocateur  towards  the  other?  We  must 
not  allow  ourselves  to  be  deceived  by  the  polite  etiquette 
of  diplomacy.  The  war  which  is  waged  with  powder  and 
ball  is  often  less  jeopardizing  to  true  peace  than  the  en- 
mity which  is  secretly  nurtured  under  the  outward  sem- 
blances of  peace. 

We  are  bidding  for  Japanese  trade,  but  we  ignore  the 
fact  that  trade  follows  friendship  more  certainly  than  it 
follows  the  flag.  We  invite  Japan  to  utilize  the  Panama 
Canal  so  that  our  Gulf  and  Atlantic  States  might  de- 
velop closer  trade  relations  with  the  rising  empire  in 
the  East,  but  we  are  oblivious  to  the  fact  that  we  are 
throwing  a  great  obstacle  in  the  path  of  the  Japanese  ves- 
sels by  forbidding  their  crews  to  land  where  our  flag 
flies.  To  any  one  who  knows  something  of  life  on  sea 
it  is  obvious  that  a  voyage  of  19,500  miles  is  a  great, 
almost  unbearable,  strain  to  the  mind  and  body  of  the 
sailor  when  he  is  not  permitted  even  once  in  the  course 
of  the  voyage  to  tread  the  solid  earth. 


THE  MEETING  OF  TWO  WORLDS  33 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  fully  half  the  foreign  trade 
of  our  Pacific  Coast  is  with  Japan.  San  Francisco,  with 
all  the  annoyances  it  caused  the  Japanese,  could  in  191 1 
export  to  Japan  merchandise  to  the  value  of  $12,380,000, 
while  its  exports  to  other  leading  countries — England, 
Germany,  Canada,  Australia,  China,  etc. — ranged  in  value 
only  from  one  to  five  million  dollars.  In  the  same  year 
Japanese  imports  to  San  Francisco  amounted  to  $24- 
095,000,  while  those  from  other  trading  nations  varied 
in  value  from  one  to  seven  million  dollars.  To  be  sure, 
no  nation  should  fix  its  national  policy  solely  with  its 
commercial  interest  in  view,  but  it  is  foolish  to  try  with- 
out sufficient  reason  the  patience  of  a  country  with  which 
it  has,  and  hopes  to  maintain,  close  trade  relations. 

That  the  United  States  has  the  right  to  decide  who 
shall  be  admitted  to  these  shores  and  who  barred  is  de- 
nied by  no  one.  Japan  has  never  challenged  that  right 
from  a  legal  point  of  view.  But  what  would  this  world 
be  if  all  nations  were  to  strain  every  nerve  to  assert 
their  legal  rights  without  mitigating  them  with  mag- 
nanimity and  the  common  dictates  of  courtesy?  A  man 
has  the  right  to  tell  his  neighbour  not  to  enter  the  portal 
of  his  home,  even  when  the  neighbour  has  never  inter- 
fered with  his  welfare  and  has  always  observed  every 
canon  of  gentlemanly  conduct.  But  is  such  an  injunc- 
tion justifiable  from  the  point  of  view  of  expediency,  so- 
cial etiquette,  and  above  all  the  good-will  which  is  the 
foundation  of  human  society?  As  with  the  individual 
so  with  the  nation.  The  restriction  of  immigration  is  no 
doubt  one  of  our  sovereign  rights,  but  in  exercising  such 
rights  we  must  not  single  out  a  nation,  a  civilized  and 
progressive  nation,  which  has  established  its  right  to  a 
place  in  the  comity  of  Great  Powers,  as  the  object  of  dis- 
crimination.   Perhaps  we  are  justified  in  discriminating 


34  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

against  those  peoples  which  are  not  yet  admitted  into 
the  circle  of  civilized  nations  and  whose  mental  training 
is  such  as  to  prevent  them  from  comprehending  and 
adopting  our  ideas  and  customs.  Certainly  the  Japanese 
are  not  such  a  people.  "  We  must,"  says  Colonel  Roose- 
velt, "  treat  with  justice  and  good- will  all  immigrants  who 
come  here  under  the  law.  Whether  they  are  Catholic 
or  Protestant,  Jew  or  Gentile;  whether  they  come  from 
England  or  Germany,  Russia,  Japan,  or  Italy,  matters 
nothing.  All  we  have  a  right  to  question  is  the  man's 
conduct.  If  he  is  honest  and  upright  in  his  dealings  with 
his  neighbour  and  with  the  state,  then  he  is  entitled 
to  respect  and  good  treatment.  Especially  do  we  need 
to  remember  our  duty  to  the  stranger  within  our  gates. 
It  is  the  sure  mark  of  a  low  civilization,  a  low  morality, 
to  abuse  or  discriminate  against  or  in  any  way  humiliate 
such  stranger  who  has  come  here  lawfully  and  who  is 
conducting  himself  properly.  To  remember  this  is  incum- 
bent on  every  American  citizen,  and  it  is  of  course 
peculiarly  incumbent  on  every  government  official 
whether  of  the  nation  or  of  the  several  states." 

One  of  the  favourite  arguments  advanced  by  the  advo- 
cates of  Japanese  exclusion  is  that,  if  Americans  were 
to  immigrate  to  Japan  in  large  numbers,  the  Japanese 
Government  would  set  up  a  barrier  against  us,  just  as 
we  have  erected  a  wall  against  the  Japanese.  It  might, 
and  yet  it  might  not.  For  my  part,  I  prefer  to  believe 
that  Japan  would  welcome  American  immigration,  if  she 
had  such  enormous  natural  resources  and  such  a  vast  area 
of  lands  yet  little  exploited  as  are  found  in  the  United 
States.  But,  if  she  should  feel  obliged  to  restrict  immi- 
gration, she  would  apply  such  restriction  equally  to  all 
nations.  It  is,  however,  idle  to  indulge  in  such  conjec- 
tures.   The  point  is  that  Japan's  probable,  we  may  as  well 


THE  MEETING  OF  TWO  WORLDS  35 

say  improbable,  intention  to  restrict  American  immigra- 
tion should  furnish  us  no  ground  for  excluding  Japanese 
immigration.  We  must  do  what  is  right  and  avoid  what 
is  wrong,  no  matter  what  our  neighbours  may  do  or 
think.  It  was  this  sense  of  justice  which  inspired  our 
forefathers  and  which  made  our  country  unique  and  spir- 
itually great  in  the  concourse  of  nations.  If  Japan  should 
attempt  to  exclude  our  immigrants  without  plausible  rea- 
son, it  should  be  our  duty  to  oppose  such  arbitrary  meas- 
ures. To  acquiesce  in  them  would  be  to  run  counter 
to  the  tradition  which  has  been  our  life  and  inspiration 
in  the  past.  It  has  been  our  mission,  self-imposed  yet 
none  the  less  noble,  "  to  teach  men  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  what-  freedom  is,  and  thereby  institute  other 
Americas  in  the  very  strongholds  of  oppression."  Japan, 
civilized  as  she  is,  has  yet  much  to  learn.  Her  Govern- 
ment has  not  yet  freed  itself  from  superfluous  red-tape 
and  many  another  legacy  of  the  oppressive  past,  while 
her  people  are  not  yet  fully  awake  to  the  idea  of  personal 
rights  and  freedom  essential  to  a  constitutional  govern- 
ment. In  the  words  of  Count  Okuma :  "  The  spirit  of 
blind  obedience  and  involuntary  submission  that  we  care- 
fully taught  and  fostered  under  the  feudal  regime  and  by 
Confucian  ethics  no  longer  finds  any  trace  in  the  coun- 
try's laws,  but  its  inherited  influence  still  remains,  and 
injuriously  affects  the  social  well-being  of  the  people 
in  ways  direct  and  indirect,  intentional  and  uninten- 
tional." 

If  we  mean  to  remain  true  to  the  spirit  in  which  we 
first  entered  into  intercourse  with  Japan,  we  should  con- 
tinue to  exert  our  wholesome  influence  to  help  her  to- 
wards a  greater  freedom  and  a  truer  enlightenment.  In 
order  to  do  this  we  must  acquit  ourselves  in  accord  with 
the  principles  of  humanity.     Heretofore  those  Japanese 


36  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

immigrants  who  were  allowed  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
enormous  opportunities  which  our  country  offered,  and 
who  drank  of  our  fountain  of  liberty,  have  proved  a 
potent  leaven  in  the  social  evolution  in  the  Mikado's  land. 
Especially  have  those  poor  but  resolute  young  Japanese 
who  worked  their  way  through  our  colleges  been  influen- 
tial in  the  subtle  yet  none  the  less  powerful  movement 
for  the  democratization  of  their  country.  And  for  this 
great  assistance  Japan  never  ceases  to  be  thankful.  But 
now  our  doors  are  closed  alike  to  the  students  and  to 
the  ordinary  immigrants. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  removal  of  the 
ban  put  upon  Japanese  immigration  does  not  necessarily 
mean  the  reopening  of  our  doors  to  unrestricted  immi- 
gration. Japan,  proud  and  sensitive,  has  no  intention  to 
embarrass  the  United  States  by  sending  emigrants  in 
large  numbers.  She  deems  it  her  duty,  a  duty  not  only 
to  her  own  people  but  to  all  the  civilized  world,  to  re- 
strict immigration  where  her  emigrants  are  not  welcome. 
What  she  wants  is  merely  an  equal  treatment,  the  treat- 
ment which  we  have  accorded  to  all  other  civilized  na- 
tions. Should  the  United  States  of  her  own  accord 
remove  the  restriction  put  upon  the  Japanese  in  the  mat- 
ter of  immigration  and  naturalization,  Japan,  on  her  part, 
will  voluntarily  and  willingly  see  to  it  that  her  subjects 
of  "  undesirable  "  class  will  not  seek  these  shores.  This, 
we  may  be  sure,  the  Japanese  will  be  impelled  to  do  by 
the  sense  of  gratitude  and  obligation  which  magnanimous 
conduct  on  our  part  cannot  fail  to  arouse  in  their  hearts. 
For  there  are  but  few  peoples  on  earth  so  appreciative 
of  kindness  and  sympathy  as  the  Japanese.  "  There  is 
something  painful,"  says  Mr.  Don  C.  Seitz,  the  manag- 
ing editor  of  the  New  York  World,  in  the  North  Ameri- 
can Review,  "  about  the  childlike  faith  and  grateful  good- 


THE  MEETING  OF  TWO  WORLDS  37 

will  manifested  toward  the  American  visitor  by  the  peo- 
ple of  Japan,  in  perpetual  acknowledgment  of  their  debt 
to  the  United  States.  This  is  no  shallow  sentiment,  but 
a  deep  feeling  bred  of  the  belief  that  but  for  Commodore 
Perry  and  Townsend  Harris  that  country  would  have 
dwelt  in  mediaeval  helplessness  until  too  late.'*  This  sen- 
timent of  gratefulness  which  is  so  deep-rooted  in  the 
Japanese  mind  will  be  infinitely  intensified  when  once  we 
deal  with  that  nation  on  a  basis  of  absolute  equality. 

Yes,  Japan  will  restrict  emigration  to  the  United  States 
of  her  own  accord,  once  we  approach  her  in  the  proper 
manner.  At  the  same  time,  the  United  States  must 
plainly  admit  the  injustice  of  interfering  with  the  bona 
fide  enterprise  of  the  Japanese  in  countries  outside  of  our 
jurisdiction,  whether  Canada  or  Mexico,  Peru  or  Brazil. 
And  yet,  as  if  it  were  not  enough  to  have  excluded  the 
Japanese  from  our  own  territories,  we  are  now  pursuing 
him,  or  rather  the  shadow  of  him,  in  Mexico  and  in 
South  America.  The  spectre  of  Japanese  invasion  in 
Mexico  was  conjured  up,  it  seems,  as  a  scheme  of  boost- 
ing a  real  estate  enterprise  by  those  American  interests 
holding  immense  tracts  of  land  in  Lower  California.  Of 
this  the  Magdalena  Bay  incident  is  an  apt  illustration. 
As  President  Jordan,  of  Leland  Stanford  University, 
says,  "  The  whole  Magdalena  Bay  business  is  a  creation 
of  the  Hearst  newspapers."  It  is  understood  that  Mr. 
Hearst  himself  has  an  extensive  real  estate  interest  in 
Lower  California,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  he  thought 
he  could  boom  the  country  by  directing  the  attention  of 
the  nation  towards  that  region.  It  is  all  very  well  for 
men  of  Mr.  Hearst's  calibre  to  spread  wild  talk  of  Japa- 
nese designs  upon  Mexico,  but  how  are  we  to  account  for 
the  action  of  such  an  enlightened  statesman  as  Senator 
Lodge,  when  he  takes  up  such  wild  talk  in  all  his  earnest- 


38  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

ness  and  makes  stirring  speeches  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate  ?  A  Japanese  steamship  concern  may  or  may  not 
have  tried  to  secure  a  coaling  station  in  Magdalena  Bay. 
The  question  is  immaterial.  What  is  essential  is  that, 
in  making  a  great  ado  about  the  supposed  Japanese  de- 
signs on  Magdalena  Bay,  we  forgot  that  the  very  expedi- 
tion of  Commodore  Perry  of  1852  had  as  one  of  its 
missions  the  establishment  of  a  coaling  station  in  the 
Far  East,  possibly  in  Japanese  v^aters.  But  for  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil  War  in  our  midst  this  scheme  of  ours 
would  have  been  carried  out.  Suppose  Japan  objected 
to  our  securing  a  coaling  station  in  or  close  to  her  terri- 
torial waters.  Would  we  have  heeded  her  protest  ?  Not 
likely.  We  would  have  lectured  Japan  pretty  severely, 
and,  what  is  more,  we  would  have  got  what  we  wanted, 
anyway,  had  not  the  war  of  secession  disconcerted  us. 
For  my  part,  I  believe  that  any  trading  nation,  whose 
intentions  are  peaceable,  should  be  free  to  secure  coaling 
stations  wherever  it  will. 

The  Monroe  Doctrine,  as  interpreted  to-day  by  our 
politicians  and  press,  virtually  makes  it  impossible  for 
Japanese  to  launch  in  Mexico  or  in  South  America  any 
enterprise,  however  innocent  such  enterprises  may  be. 
I  have  no  sympathy  for  those  entrepreneurs,  Oriental  or 
Occidental,  who  emulate  the  methods  of  what  the  muck- 
raker  calls  "  predatory  wealth  "  and  stoop  to  grasp  con- 
cessions and  privileges  in  foreign  lands,  but  I  believe  that 
we  should  not  raise  a  hue  and  cry  against  those  innocent, 
honest  toilers  of  Japan  who,  crowded  out  of  their  small 
and  densely  populated  country,  emigrate  to  South  Amer- 
ica or  Mexico  in  search  for  wider  fields  of  activities, 
agricultural  or  commercial.  Yet  many  of  our  politicians 
and  journalists  are  indulging  in  wild  speculations  and 
are  declaring  that  Japanese  immigration  to  South  Amer- 


THE   MEETING  OF  TWO   WORLDS  39 

ica  will  prove  to  be  an  encroachment  upon  the  Monroe 
Doctrine.  If  the  meaning  of  this  doctrine  must  be 
stretched  so  wide,  may  not  Japan  be  justified  in  setting 
up  a  Monroe  Doctrine  of  her  own  and  declaring  that 
henceforth  Americans  must  keep  off  the  shores  of  East- 
ern Asia?  The  Western  nations,  America  not  excluded, 
persistently  taught  the  Japanese  the  dangerous  doctrine 
that  might  is  right,  and  yet  when  the  Japanese  are  ready 
to  translate  that  doctrine  into  their  policy  would  we  con- 
nive at  such  affronts?  I  think  not.  What,  then,  will  be 
the  outcome?  As  an  English  writer  in  the  Fortnightly 
Review  puts  it :  "  Let  the  sense  of  the  common  grievance 
among  Oriental  nations  rise  steadily  and  dominate;  let 
it  be  asserted  that  there  shall  be  white  men's  countries 
in  every  other  continent,  but  that  brown  men  and  yellow 
men,  no  matter  how  much  they  increase  or  how  far  they 
progress,  shall  never  have  any  countries  but  their  own; 
let  the  conception  of  Asia  contra  mundum  gradually 
arouse  all  its  races  for  a  colossal  crusade;  let  Japan  be 
invoked  by  China  as  a  leader  and  by  India  as  a  liberator ; 
and  let  the  black  races  feel  that  the  white  man  is  likely 
to  be  swept  back  at  last,  and  then  indeed  the  strangest 
dreams  of  the  eclipse  and  extinction  of  Western  civiliza- 
tion might  come  true." 

The  "  strangest  dream  "  is  not  likely  to  come  true,  for 
Japan  clearly  realizes  the  impossibility  of  casting  her  lot 
with  the  huge,  inert  mass  of  humanity  that  inhabits  the 
Asian  continent.  She  believes  that  her  interest  is  more 
closely  interwoven  with  that  of  the  Occident  than  with 
that  of  the  Oriental  races,  that  in  temperament  and  in- 
clination she  has  much  more  in  common  with  the  West- 
ern peoples  than  with  those  of  Asia.  But  some  day  in 
the  remote  future  huge  Asia  may  bestir  and  come  to  its 
own.    And  here  lies  the  point  of  danger.    Such  a  day  of 


40  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

danger  will  not  come  in  a  hundred  years  or  even  in  two 
centuries,  certainly  not  "before  the  opening  of  the  Panama 
Canal/'  in  spite  of  all  the  horoscopes  of  Mr.  Hearst  and 
his  associates.  In  the  meantime  let  us  do  all  we  can  for 
the  removal  of  all  factors  which  are  liable  to  estrange 
East  and  West. 

Let  us  frankly  admit  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  has  lost 
much  of  its  strength.  What  some  publicists  and  jour- 
nalists are  pleased  to  call  the  Monroe  Doctrine  of  to-day 
is  not  the  Monroe  Doctrine;  it  is  something  brand-new. 
The  real  Monroe  Doctrine  lost  its  raison  d'etre  when  Eu- 
ropean despotism  and  its  offspring,  the  Holy  Alliance, 
sank  into  the  limbo  of  oblivion;  and  we  forfeited  our 
claim  to  that  doctrine  when  we  reached  our  own  hands 
across  the  Pacific  and  seized  the  Philippines,  and  con- 
trived to  become  a  predominating  factor  in  the  finance 
and  railway  enterprise  in  China,  even  at  the  expense  of 
those  rights  which  another  nation  had  acquired  at  the 
cost  of  billions  of  dollars  and  a  hundred  thousand  lives. 
It  will  never  do  for  us  to  be  beguiled  into  believing  that 
the  dollar  is  almighty,  that  it  can  do  everything  and  undo 
everything.  In  this  age  of  enlightenment,  when  the  arbi- 
tration movement  is  gaining  strength  and  the  Hague  Tri- 
bunal has  become  a  permanent  institution,  no  nation  need 
cling  to  the  legacies  of  a  departed  world  and  a  bygone 
age  such  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  "  America  for  Ameri- 
cans "  is  as  absurd  as  "  Asia  for  Asiatics."  The  more 
diligently  the  United  States  harps  upon  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine in  its  distorted  form,  the  less  cordial  and  sympa- 
thetic will  the  leading  republics  in  Central  and  South 
America  become  towards  her.  For  are  they  not  just  as 
proud  of  their  independence  and  integrity  as  ourselves  ? 

It  is  indeed  sad  to  think  that  even  Christianity  has  done 
comparatively  little  for  the  razing  of  the  barrier  which 


THE   MEETING  OF  TWO   WORLDS  41 

we  have  erected  in  our  midst  against  the  Orient.  The 
sense  of  human  brotherhood  is  no  less  needed  by  men 
whose  profession  is  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  than 
by  men  of  the  lay  world.  We  send  missionaries  to  Japan 
and  tell  the  "  heathen  "  natives  of  love  and  universal 
brotherhood ;  but  when  Japanese,  converted  to  the  teach- 
ings of  the  great  Nazarene,  come  to  these  shores  they 
are  denied  admission  into  the  greatest  fraternal  institu- 
tion to  which  those  great  teachings  have  given  birth — I 
refer  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  It  was, 
I  presume,  this  sort  of  proselytizing  which  the  Master 
sternly  rebuked  in  these  words,  "  Woe  unto  you,  hypo- 
crites, ye  compass  sea  and  land  to  make  one  proselyte." 

The  world  is  troubled  and  the  age  is  critical.     Per- 
haps we  are,  like  the  Greek  of  old, 

"Wandering  between  two  worlds — one  dead, 
The  other  powerless  to  be  born." 

How  soon  that  other  world  will  see  the  light  God  alone 
knows.  We  are  souls  loosed  upon  the  sunless  seas  of 
doubt  and  wearily  scanning  the  dark  horizon  for  a  haven 
for  which  our  forefathers  have  striven  these  many  centu- 
ries but  which  is  not  yet  even  in  sight.  The  hour  is  full 
of  anxieties  and  forebodings.  And  yet  in  such  an  hour 
"  it  is  bliss  to  be  alive,"  and  be  able  to  contribute  a 
widow's  mite  towards  the  solution  of  the  great  problem 
that  confronts  us. 


II 

MUTUAL  DISILLUSIONMENT 

1HAVE  often  wondered  why  I  can  never  bring  my- 
self to  feel  indignant  at  the  American  censor  of  the 
Japanese.  Considering  the  vituperations  and  slanders 
which  he  heaps  upon  the  Japanese,  I  ought  to  be  able 
sometimes  to  let  myself  go  and  accept  the  challenge  like 
a  man,  if  I  had  a  grain  of  pride  in  the  race  to  which 
I  belong.  For  the  life  of  me  I  cannot.  Am  I  cowardly 
or  indifferent? 

The  truth  is  that  I  can  never  fully  grasp  his  point  of 
view,  and,  failing  to  comprehend  him,  I  also  fail  to  take 
him  seriously.  As  George  Meredith  says  of  Mrs.  Caro- 
line Grandison,  he  "  runs  ahead  of  my  thoughts  like  nim- 
ble fire."  I  follow  him  with  panting  eagerness,  but  the 
moment  I  seem  to  be  catching  up  with  him  he  suddenly 
disappears  or  shifts  his  position,  only  to  crop  up  again, 
God  knows  in  what  direction. 

The  American  censor  is  so  versatile  and  flexible  that 
he  appears  at  times  whimsical.  His  line  of  argument  is 
tortuous,  full  of  sharp  curves  and  backward  bends.  Only 
a  short  while  ago  he  harped  upon  the  popular  notion  of 
the  inferiority  of  the  Japanese.  The  Japanese  strove 
might  and  main  to  vindicate  their  ability.  Now  he  holds 
out  the  bogie  of  Japanese  domination,  and  argues  that 
the  "  brown  men  "  must  be  excluded  and  even  expelled 
because  of  their  superior  abilities.  He  complains  that 
the  Japanese  are  clannish  and  cannot  understand  the  hail- 

42 


MUTUAL  DISILLUSIONMENT  43 

fellow-well-met  manner  of  the  Occident,  but  when  the 
Japanese  try  to  mingle  freely  with  Americans,  why  they 
are  accused  of  being  "  too  eager  to  push  socially."  He 
tells  the  Japanese  to  learn  something  of  the  amenities  of 
conventional  society ;  woe  betide  the  Japanese  if  they  take 
him  at  his  word  and  don  black  frock  coats  and  high  silk 
hats.  "  The  Japs  are  cocky  and  like  to  put  on  airs  " 
is  the  immediate  rebuke.  He  blames  the  Japanese  for 
sending  money  out  of  his  country,  but  when  they  begin 
to  invest  their  hard-earned  dollars  in  real  property  in- 
stead of  sending  them  home,  he  calls  them  a  "  menace." 
What  does  he  want  them  to  do  with  their  savings?  He 
used  to  argue  that  the  Japanese  must  be  kept  away  be- 
cause they  lower  the  economic  standards  of  the  American 
labourer;  now  he  charges  them  with  demanding  exorbi- 
tant wages.  For  some  time  he  has  diligently  exploited  the 
old  theory  of  the  unassimilability  of  the  Orientals;  now 
he  admits  that  the  Japanese  show  a  capacity  for  assimi- 
lation much  greater  than  that  of  the  Chinese,  Mexicans, 
and  some  of  the  South  and  East  European  races,  and  yet 
he  concludes  that,  inasmuch  as  some  native  inhabitants 
of  the  Pacific  Coast  cherish  prejudice  against  the  Orien- 
tals, the  Japanese  should  neither  be  admitted  nor  allowed 
to  own  land  in  this  country. 

I  have  followed  him  far  enough,  and  I  must  pause  to 
save  my  breath.  Such  a  dull  mind  as  mine  has  but  little 
craving  for  such  intellectual  gymnastics.  I  can  see  only 
the  comical  side  of  his  strategy.  He  snatches  weapons 
from  the  hands  of  his  opponents  and  utilizes  them  to 
strengthen  his  own  position.  As  frequently  he  forges 
his  own  weapons,  which  to  my  untrained  eyes  appear  so 
bizarre  that  I  think  they  should  remain  in  fairyland,  there 
to  be  put  in  the  hands  of  imps  and  clowns. 

And  yet  such  grotesque  missiles  seem  to  be  effective 


44  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

in  beguiling  an  unthinking  public.  "  The  Japanese  are 
so  dishonest  that  most  Japanese  banks  have  to  employ 
Chinese  cashiers,"  says  one  critic,  and  another  adds: 
"Unblushing  lying  is  so  universal  among  the  Japanese 
as  to  be  one  of  the  leading  national  traits/'  The  third 
informs  that  "  the  Japanese  are  so  unmoral  that  indul- 
gence sexually  before  marriage  is  a  common  practice  of 
both  sexes."  And  the  fourth  corroborates  the  idea  in 
these  words :  "  There  is  no  word  in  Japanese  correspond- 
ing to  sin,  because  there  is  in  the  ordinary  Japanese  mind 
no  conception  of  its  meaning.  There  is  no  word  corre- 
sponding to  the  word  home,  because  there  is  nothing  in 
the  Japanese  domestic  life  corresponding  to  the  home  as 
we  know  it." 

Such  fairy  tales  are  unessential,  for  we  are  dealing 
with  this  prosaic,  matter-of-fact  world.  What  is  essen- 
tial is  the  state  of  mind  which  causes  the  public  to  listen 
to  such  stories  with  avidity  and  without  discrimination. 
What  created  such  a  state  of  mind?  The  question  is 
pertinent,  considering  the  generosity  and  indulgence  with 
which  America  up  to  a  decade  ago  viewed  Japan  and  the 
Japanese.  The  Americans  are  not  naturally  addicted  to 
fault-finding,  and  I  find  the  average  American  remarkably 
tolerant.  How  comes  it  that  of  late  his  innate  leniency 
seems  to  have  made  way  for  censoriousness  ?  I  do  not 
pretend  to  possess  any  magical  power  enabling  me  to 
unveil  the  mysteries  which  have  shrouded  the  alienation 
of  American  sympathy  from  Japan,  but  the  following  few 
facts  may  furnish  a  clue  to  this  enigma : 

During  the  Russo-Japanese  War  many  American  and 
European  newspaper  correspondents  came  to  Tokyo,  all 
eager  to  proceed  to  the  front.  The  Japanese  Government, 
much  as  it  was  anxious  to  accommodate  them,  could  ill- 
afford  to  expose  its  plan  of  campaign  to  the  outside 


MUTUAL  DISILLUSIONMENT  45 

world,  for  the  stake  it  was  playing  for  was  the  very  ex- 
istence of  the  empire.  To  the  impatient  correspondents, 
however,  the  life  or  death  of  Japan  was  of  no  greater 
consequence  than  the  rise  or  decline  of  their  fame  as 
writers,  and  when  they  found  themselves  virtual  prisoners 
in  luxurious  hotels  attended  by  courteous  officers,  they 
were  in  no  mood  to  compliment  Japan.  That  was  quite 
natural,  and  it  is  unreasonable  to  blame  them.  Nor  is 
it  reasonable  to  censure  the  Japanese  General  Staff. 

When  the  plenipotentiaries  of  Japan  and  Russia  met 
at  Portsmouth  to  negotiate  peace,  the  tide  of  public  opin- 
ion began  to  flow  against  the  Japanese.  By  the  time  the 
conference  came  to  a  close  Russia  had  been  virtually  sub- 
stituted for  Japan  in  the  sympathies  and  good-wishes  of 
the  American  newspapers.  Not  only  had  Witte  defeated 
Komura  within  the  walls  of  the  historic  "  storehouse  " 
utilized  for  the  conference,  but  he  had  outwitted  the 
Mikado's  envoy  by  befriending  the  press  of  the  world, 
whose  representatives  were  gathered  at  the  Hotel  Went- 
worth.  The  late  Marquis  Komura,  with  all  his  shrewd- 
ness and  foresight,  never  fully  realized  the  power  wielded 
by  the  press.  He  was  always  so  cocksure  of  the  just- 
ness of  his  stand  that  in  adhering  to  it  he  never  recog- 
nized the  necessity  of  having  editorial  sympathy  on  his 
side.  Most  of  all,  he  disliked  the  corrupt  means  so  fre- 
quently employed  by  those  statesmen  who  with  Robert 
Walpole  believe  that  "  every  man  has  his  price."  What 
wonder  that  almost  simultaneously  with  the  triumphant 
exit  of  Count  Witte  from  the  great  diplomatic  stage  at 
Portsmouth,  American  newspapers  began  to  publish  all 
manner  of  insinuations  with  regard  to  Japan? 

This  new  turn  of  public  sentiment  was  at  once  seized 
upon  by  those  great  interests  whose  business  was  and  is 
to  make  capital  out  of  the  war  scare  often  created  by 


n/ 


4€>  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

themselves.  They  manufacture  war  talk  in  order  to  in- 
crease demand  for  the  warships  and  guns  and  powder 
which  they  manufacture.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the 
clandestine  activities  of  these  interests  greatly  assisted  in 
the  alienation  of  American  sympathy  from  Japan. 

With  the  termination  of  the  war  Japan  was  admitted 
into  the  family  of  Great  Powers.  This  exaltation  of  pres- 
tige naturally  demanded  of  her  the  fulfilment  of  all  con- 
ditions requisite  in  the  making  of  a  first-class  power. 
Henceforth  the  world  had  the  right  to  measure  Japan 
by  new  standards  of  judgment — standards  which  it  had 
been  accustomed  to  apply  to  the  foremost  nations  of  Eu- 
rope and  America.  She  was  no  longer  to  be  patronized 
and  admired  like  a  precocious  youth  achieving  extraor- 
dinary feats,  but  was  to  be  treated  as  a  man  who  had 
attained  the  maturity  of  judgment  and  wisdom.  And, 
judged  by  these  new  standards,  Japan  has  proved  a  dis- 
appointment both  to  herself  and  to  Western  critics.  The 
disappointment  of  the  Japanese  means  little  more  or  less 
than  a  healthy  aspiration  for  perfection,  but  the  disap- 
pointment of  the  Westerners  is  attended  with  a  mingled 
feeling  of  disgust,  distrust,  and  contempt.  The  Japa- 
nese were  disappointed  merely  because  Japan  did  not,  like 
other  vigorous,  ambitious  nations,  permit  the  halo  of  her 
achievements  to  obstruct  her  discernment,  but  was  eager 
to  learn  more  and  accomplish  worthier  deeds.  The  for- 
eigners were  disappointed  chiefly  because  their  mental  at- 
titude had  already  been  influenced  by  certain  unhappy 
circumstances.  The  entrance  of  the  Japanese  into  the 
arena  of  commercial  competition  was  in  itself  sufficient 
to  arouse  suspicion  on  the  part  of  Westerners. 

In  a  word,  the  West  is  passing  through  a  period  of  dis- 
illusionment in  its  attitude  towards  Japan.  Nor  is  it  the 
West  alone  that  has  been  disillusioned.    While  the  Japa- 


MUTUAL  DISILLUSIONMENT  47 

nese  was  under  Western  tutorage,  he  knew  but  little  of 
the  seamy  side  of  Occidental  life.  Like  a  docile  pupil, 
the  Japanese  frankly  admitted  and  recognized  the  supe- 
riority of  not  only  Western  civilization,  but  also  the  West- 
ern race.  When  I  was  in  school  in  Japan  as  a  small  boy, 
my  text-books  taught  me  that  "  the  people  of  the  Occident 
are  exceedingly  industrious,  always  rising  early  in  the 
morning,  and  never  taking  a  noon-day  nap."  They  told 
me  that  the  Westerners  were  "  our  superiors  physically, 
mentally,  and  morally."  It  was  not  only  the  school  chil- 
dren but  their  teachers  and  parents  who  believed  such 
sweeping  statements  with  unquestioning  simplicity.  The 
whole  nation  was  thoroughly  in  earnest  to  bring  itself  up 
to  the  standards  of  the  Western  people. 

Then  there  were  missionaries  who  held  out  before  their 
bewildered  pupils  the  picture  of  an  idealized  Christendom. 
With  a  few  lamentable  exceptions,  these  disciples  of 
Christianity  were  worthy  of  the  mission  entrusted  to 
them.  Not  only  by  words  but  also  by  deeds  they  con- 
firmed the  belief  which  had  been  instilled  in  the  Japanese 
mind  by  the  imposing  presence  of  the  warships  on  which 
the  American  commodore  made  his  advent  in  Yeddo  Bay, 
and  by  the  wonderful  wisdom  displayed  in  the  miniature 
railway  and  telegraph,  the  sewing-machines,  and  diction- 
aries which  he  unpacked  at  Yokohama  in  i860. 

Yes,  the  Japanese  worshipped  the  Occident,  especially 
America,  with  all  the  ardour  of  a  youthful  mind  and  the 
devotion  of  a  pilgrim.  He  heard  of  our  Puritan  fore- 
fathers, who  braved  the  rough  seas  and  tjie  wilderness 
infested  with  savage  Indians  for  the  sake  of  the  free- 
dom of  conscience.  He  read  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, whose  noble  ideas  thrilled  his  heart  with  admi- 
ration. He  was  told  of  Washington  and  Lincoln,  of 
Franklin  and  Webster,  and  he  thought  America  was  a 


48  ASIA   AT  THE  DOOR 

land  where  petty  politicians  and  intriguing  demagogues 
had  no  place.  He  heard  of  the  universal  prevalence  of 
Christianity  in  America,  and  fancied  that  every  home 
and  individual  there  must  be  guided  by  Christian  princi- 
ples of  purity,  honesty,  and  uprightness.  He  was  re- 
minded of  his  lack  of  business  morality,  in  contrast  with 
the  high  standard  of  commercial  honour  prevalent  in 
the  West,  and  he  imagined  that  all  American  merchants 
must  be  incapable  of  imposition  and  chicanery.  Much 
to  his  disgrace,  he  was  rebuked  for  what  his  Western 
teachers  believed  to  be  immodest,  even  immoral,  conduct 
of  both  his  sisters  and  himself,  and  he  had  reason  to 
expect  the  American  men  and  women  to  be  impeccable 
in  character  and  faultless  in  demeanour. 

Poor  Japanese!  He  allowed  his  imagination  to  soar 
too  high.  His  castle  in  the  air  shot  up  like  a  rocket; 
when  it  came  down,  it  was  sudden,  abrupt,  like  the 
stick. 

Let  us  illustrate  this  sudden  disillusionment  with  the 
experience  of  a  Japanese  immigrant.  The  moment  he 
lands  at  San  Francisco  he  receives  his  first  baptism  in 
liberty  in  the  most  bewildering  manner.  "  Poll  tax !  poll 
tax ! "  shouts  an  evil-visaged  man,  who  has  no  more  au- 
thority to  collect  poll  tax  than  the  man  in  the  moon.  The 
innocent  soul,  helpless  among  strangers,  obeys  the  man- 
date of  the  dubious  tax-collector,  and  the  rascal  disap- 
pears with  an  additional  five-dollar  gold  piece  snug  in  his 
trouser  pocket.  But  no  sooner  does  the  Japanese  re- 
lease himself  from  the  clutches  of  the  bogus  tax-collector 
than  he  finds  himself  a  captive  in  the  hands  of  two  or 
three  savage-looking  men,  who  tell  him  to  get  into  their 
carriage  (which  is  nothing  but  a  common  dray- wagon) 
so  that  he  may  be  safely  conducted  to  a  Japanese  hotel 
Decline  the  offer,  and  the  reward  is  a  black  eye  or  a 


MUTUAL  DISILLUSIONMENT  49 

bruise  in  his  face;  accept  it,  and  they  take  him  where 
they  will,  charging  four  or  five  dollars  for  the  service. 

So  is  the  Japanese  initiated  into  American  freedom. 
No  longer  is  he  dismayed  by  showers  of  oaths  which 
come  mixed  with  the  unholy  odour  of  whiskey  and  chew- 
ing tobacco.  No  longer  is  he  afraid  to  penetrate  into 
the  mazes  of  American  life  and  to  explore  its  wonders. 
And  there  are  plenty  of  wonders  awaiting  his  discov- 
ery. He  discovers,  much  to  his  surprise,  that  many  of 
the  municipal  governments  are  burdened  with  graft  and 
jobbery.  He  discovers  "  insidious  "  lobbying  freely  prac- 
tised in  the  shadow  of  the  monument  dedicated  to  the 
Father  of  Freedom.  He  finds  the  Goddess  of  Liberty 
standing  uneasy  and  forlorn  as  if  dismayed  by  the  pres- 
ence of  a  metropolis  which  harbours  40,000  prostitutes,  at 
whose  feet  gallant  men  offer  a  yearly  tribute  of  $80,000,- 
000.  Is  this  the  America  which  the  missionaries  told 
him  about?  He  learns  the  horrible  fact  that  $1,014,- 
000,000  worth  of  adulterated  food  is  annually  dumped 
upon  the  market  to  the  detriment  of  public  health.  Is 
this  the  America  whose  high  standard  of  commercial  mo- 
rality was  heralded  the  world  over?  He  opens  a  store 
in  San  Francisco,  and  a  smooth-tongued  American,  call- 
ing himself  a  representative  of  a  large  firm,  calls  upon 
him  and  tells  him  to  sign  a  paper,  which  he  says  will 
entail  no  obligation  to  the  signatory.  Unable  to  read 
the  paper  but  having  unrestricted  confidence  in  the  hon- 
esty of  the  American  merchants,  he  signs  his  name  to 
it  and,  behold !  piles  of  goods,  which  he  had  not  the 
slightest  idea  of  ordering,  are  dumped  upon  him!  This 
in  a  Christian  country!  He  hears  of  politicians  bribing 
their  way  to  the  Senate  or  the  House,  where  they  be- 
come slaves  of  big  interests  to  mend  their  "  battered  and 
bankrupt  fortunes."    Is  this  the  America  which  produced 


50  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

Washington  and  Lincoln?  He  is  told  that  no  less  than 
ioo,cx)0  divorces  are  annually  granted,  making  as  many 
children  motherless  or  fatherless,  and  "  wrecking  2,000,- 
000  homes,  actual  or  potential,  as  hopelessly  as  by  an 
infinite  conflagration."  Is  this  the  America  whose  men 
and  women  are  noted  for  their  strong  moral  quality  ?  He 
hears  of  wealthy  brewers  and  cattlemen  buying  for  their 
whimsical  daughters  titled  husbands  just  as  they  buy 
their  infant  children  rocking  horses  or  rag  dolls.  Is  this 
the  America  which  scorns  social  caste  and  boasts  of  its 
doctrine  of  equality?  Most  shocking  of  all,  he  discov- 
ers that  sons  and  daughters  of  wealth  are  no  longer  con- 
tented with  all  the  luxuries,  wholesome  and  otherwise, 
offered  in  their  own  country,  but  go  to  Europe  to 
gamble  at  Monte  Carlo,  to  flirt  at  Vienna  and  Budapest, 
and  to  learn  all  the  vices  lurking  under  the  eternal  charm 
of  the  French  metropolis.  He  hears  of  orgies  of  New 
Year's  Eve,  where  intoxicated  women  reel  with  men, 
even  less  sober,  both  uttering  coarse  words  and  smoking 
cigarettes.  Are  these  libertines  the  descendants  of  those 
Puritans  whose  stoicism  and  simplicity  he  fondly  re- 
garded as  a  Western  counterpart  of  bushi^do,  the  way 
of  the  warrior? 

Yes,  the  Japanese  is  disappointed  and  disillusioned. 
Yet  he  is  reluctant  to  give  up  the  fond  admiration  which 
he  so  long  cherished  for  America.  lie  still  hopes  to 
unearth  the  sterling  qualities  which,  he  believes,  must 
be  hidden  under  the  superficial  vices  so  brazenly  displayed 
to  public  gaze.  His  hope  is  not  in  vain,  for  his  efforts 
are  richly  rewarded.  He  discovers  good-nature  and  sym- 
pathy innate  to  almost  all  Americans;  he  learns  public 
opinion  is  not  so  paralyzed  as  to  permit  political  graft 
and  official  irregularities  to  pass  unchallenged  for  any 
considerable  time;  he  finds  out  that  the  extravagance  of 


MUTUAL  DISILLUSIONMENT  5 1 

the  upstart  millionaires  is  deeply  deplored  by  the  middle 
class,  which  is,  after  all,  the  true  strength  of  the  nation ; 
he  discovers  that  the  mutual  devotion  of  husband  and 
wife,  of  parents  and  children  among  the  typical  Ameri- 
cans is  not  less  intense  than  that  commonly  found  in 
his  native  country;  he  discovers  the  system  of  credit 
in  the  business  world  developed  to  the  highest  state, 
which  cannot  be  done  without  correspondingly  high  sense 
of  honour  on  the  part  of  individual  citizens.  If  Ameri- 
can life  is  not  free  from  blemishes  and  defects,  Japanese 
life  is  no  more  so — why  drag  them  into  the  garish  light 
of  day?  If  he  is  disillusioned,  that  is  nobody's  fault 
but  his  own,  which  beguiled  him  to  fancy  that  this  earth 
could  harbour  a  perfect  people.  After  all,  there  is  no 
reason  why  he  should  be  disappointed  or  disillusioned. 
Thus  does  he  become  a  truer  friend  of  America. 

The  trouble  with  most  Western  critics  of  Japan  is 
that  they  come  East  without  sympathy,  and  criticism 
without  sympathy  is  seldom  just.  Neither  are  they  in 
earnest  to  study  Japan.  If  they  come  across  something 
which  defies  their  comprehension,  they  do  not  take  trou- 
ble to  investigate  the  question,  but  dismiss  the  whole 
matter  as  incomprehensible  to  the  Occidental  mind. 
That  worn  phrase,  "  The  Japanese  are  inscrutable,"  sim- 
ply betrays  the  mental  indolence  of  whoever  invented  it. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  much-advertised  fiction  of  the 
Chinese  cashiers  standing  guard  over  the  Japanese  banks 
filled  with  dishonest  employes  who  are  all  natives.  In 
all  my  life  have  I  never  heard  a  lie  so  unblushing  as 
this.  Time  was  when  a  few  Japanese  banks  in  open 
ports  employed  Chinese,  because  the  Chinese  were  dis- 
honest. Does  this  seem  paradoxical?  The  explanation 
is  simple.  China  has  no  currency  system  such  as  is  com- 
mon in  civilized  countries.    Besides  the  silver  coins  arbi- 


52  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

trarily  struck  out  by  the  central  and  local  governments, 
there  is  a  large  amount  of  bullion  in  circulation.  Now 
the  bullion  is  often  adulterated,  while  many  coins  are 
counterfeits.  Through  experience  of  centuries  the 
Chinese  have  learned  to  distinguish,  by  the  ring  of  the 
metal,  undebased  from  debased  silver,  an  art  which  the 
Japanese  had  no  need  to  develop.  So  the  Japanese  banks 
dealing  with  Chinese  merchants  had  to  employ  Chinese 
silver  experts  to  safeguard  themselves  against  the  loss 
which  must  result  from  accepting  adulterated  silver 
brought  from  China.  In  no  Japanese  bank  were  such 
Chinese  experts  given  so  important  a  position  as  cashier, 
and  even  such  few  Chinese  were  long  ago  replaced  by 
Japanese  experts.  To-day  there  is  no  Japanese  bank 
which  employs  a  single  Chinese  in  any  capacity.  That, 
however,  made  no  difference  to  sensation-seekers  from 
America.  They  were  there  to  tell  wonderful  stories,  and 
the  Chinese  employe  in  the  Japanese  bank  traced  to  his 
raison  d'etre  was  not  nearly  so  fascinating  a  subject  as 
when  represented  as  the  overseer  of  dishonest  Japanese. 

It  is  indeed  difficult  to  gain  an  insight  into  the  life 
of  any  foreign  nation.  Especially  is  this  the  case  when 
the  nation  one  studies  has  a  language  totally  different 
from  one's  own.  The  globe-trotter,  without  any  knowl- 
edge of  Japanese,  whirls  through  the  country,  and  writes 
a  book  on  short  notice.  Entertaining?  Yes,  but  is  it 
worth  while?  Nor  does  he  always  write  accurately  who 
spends  years  in  Japan.  To  know  the  Japanese  as  they 
really  are,  a  foreigner  must  first  of  all  have  unfeigned 
sympathy  with  them,  who  will  in  turn  receive  him  with 
sympathy.  A  critic  without  sympathy  is  apt  to  take  su- 
perficial vices  as  the  reflection  of  the  inner  qualities  of 
the  nation  which  he  criticises. 

As  for  myself,  the  longer  I  live  in  America  the  more 


MUTUAL  DISILLUSIONMENT  53 

cautious  do  I  become  in  criticising  American  life.  Had  I 
returned  to  Japan  after  a  few  years'  sojourn  here  as  a 
college  student,  I  would  never  have  enjoyed  the  oppor- 
tunity to  see  America  in  true  light.  Fate  decreed  that 
I  should  make  my  home  in  America  and  have  American 
relatives  and  friends,  who  do  not  hesitate  to  take  me  into 
confidence  and  reveal  to  me  both  the  lighter  and  the 
darker  phase  of  American  life.  We  gossip  with  our 
neighbours  over  an  afternoon  tea,  and  our  maid,  not  in- 
frequently lapsing  into  the  instinct  of  her  sex,  brings 
home  the  report  of  the  latest  scandals  of  the  town.  Once 
we  lived  in  a  small  town  in  the  West,  where  we  heard 
every  year  of  three  or  four  girls  who  "  went  wrong  "  and 
had  to  marry  under  circumstances  about  which  no  one 
dared  to  talk  but  in  whispers.  In  a  town  of  less  than 
three  thousand  population  an  annual  toll  of  three  girls 
surrendered  into  the  hands  of  temptation  is  not  a  thing 
to  be  dismissed  lightly,  and,  when  we  think  that  there 
may  have  been  more  cases  of  misdemeanour  which  for- 
tunately or  unfortunately  did  not  terminate  in  enforced 
marriage,  we  are  compelled  to  stop  and  think.  Am  I  to 
say  that  the  American  girls  are  an  unchaste  lot?  Not 
for  the  whole  world.  Yet  this  is  exactly  the  method  of 
argument  followed  by  those  unsympathetic  writers  who 
bring  wholesale  indictment  against  the  Japanese  girls. 

They  tell  me  that  Japanese  of  this  or  that  class  are 
dishonest,  tricky,  unreliable.  Be  it  so,  but  are  Americans 
of  the  corresponding  class  any  better?  Let  me  tell  you 
my  experiences  in  America,  which  I  presume  are  about 
as  worthy  as  the  experiences  of  Americans  who  spent  a 
few  months  in  Japan.  Once  I  engaged  a  few  men,  one 
of  whom  was  a  candidate  for  alderman  of  our  town,  to 
dig  a  ditch.  I  paid  them  at  the  rate  of  forty-five  cents 
an  hour,  as  they  demanded.     Afterwards  I  discovered 


54  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

that  no  one  in  our  locality  paid  more  than  twenty-five 
to  thirty  cents  an  hour  for  such  work.  Am  I  to  say  that 
the  Americans  are  dishonest  and  take  every  opportunity 
to  fleece  strangers  ?  Once  I  asked  a  man,  who  was  trim- 
ming the  trees  in  our  neighbourhood,  to  trim  a  tree  in 
our  yard.  He  said  he  would  do  it  if  I  would  pay  him 
two  dollars.  I  refused,  as  I  knew  that  he  was  doing  the 
job  for  my  neighbours  just  for  the  fuel  which  he  could 
get  out  of  the  branches  he  was  cutting.  That  ended  the 
negotiation  as  far  as  I  was  concerned;  not  so  with  my 
man.  The  very  next  morning  he  came  back  with  a 
brand-new  front,  and  said  that  he  had  changed  his  mind 
and  decided  to  cut  the  branch  for  me  if  I  would  give  it  to 
him  for  fuel.  Am  I  to  say  that  Americans  are  tricky 
and  try  to  take  advantage  of  the  ignorance  of  for- 
eigners ?  We  hire  a  maid  with  the  understanding  that  she 
can  cook  reasonably  well,  but  when  she  comes  to  work 
we  find  out  that  she  can  cook  well  enough  to  suit  the 
occupants  of  my  kennel,  certainly  not  for  any  member 
of  my  household.  Am  I  to  say  that  the  American  girls 
are  dishonest  and  unreliable?  I  engage  a  painter  to 
paint  my  house.  He  furnishes  the  paint,  for  which  I 
pay  more  than  the  regular  price.  Scarcely  a  year  is  past 
when  the  paint  begins  to  peel  off  on  all  sides  of  the  house. 
Am  I  to  say  that  the  American  workmen  are  fraudulent  ? 
I  deal  with  a  local  plumber  and  agree  to  let  him  install  a 
heating  plant  in  my  house.  I  pay  in  advance  both  for 
the  plant  and  work,  hoping  he  will  feel  obliged  to  com- 
plete the  work  without  unnecessaiy  delay.  He  begins  to 
work  in  due  season,  but  before  the  job  is  finished  he 
quits  to  work  somewhere  else,  leaving  it  uncompleted  for 
months  and  months.  I  hire  a  man  to  work  on  my  little 
garden.  He  demands  an  exorbitant  wage  for  his  first 
day's  work,  but  promises  to  come  back  in  the  following 


MUTUAL  DISILLUSIONMENT  55 

morning,  which  he  never  does.  Upon  investigation  I 
find  him  in  his  dismal  house  unconscious  from  the  effect 
of  the  liquor  which  he  was  enabled  to  purchase  with  the 
money  I  gave  him. 

I  thank  heaven  that  my  mind  is  not  so  perverted  as 
to  draw  from  such  trivial  experiences  sweeping  gener- 
alizations as  to  the  integrity  of  the  Americans.  One's 
unpleasant  experiences  are  seldom  a  safe  guide  in  one's 
efforts  to  understand  a  foreign  nation.  Besides,  why  find 
fault  with  the  Americans  when  the  Japanese  may  be  just 
as  faultful?  If  a  Japanese  is  as  sympathetic  as  he  is 
eager  in  studying  America,  he  will  have  no  difficulty  in 
discovering  admirable  qualities  in  her  people. 

There  is  one  thing  which  requires  particular  considera- 
tion on  the  part  of  foreign  critics  of  Japan.  In  Japan, 
unlike  America,  people  do  not  whisper  scandals,  but 
shout  them  from  the  housetops.  Suppose  a  girl  had  to 
marry  under  shameful  circumstances.  Out  comes  the 
local  newspaper  telling  under  blazing  headlines  every 
phase  of  the  disgraceful  story.  Impetuosities  of  youth, 
follies  of  maturity,  misdeeds  of  maidens  and  wives,  ex- 
travagance and  license  of  bachelors  and  husbands  are 
reported  in  the  newspapers  in  a  manner  which  would  put 
the  yellowest  of  yellow  journals  in  America  to  the  blush. 
Especially  is  this  the  case  with  the  local  papers,  which 
always  find  it  difficult  to  gather  enough  news  on  local 
politics  and  trade  to  fill  their  columns. 

Such  sensationalism  is  totally  foreign  to  the  editors 
of  small  local  newspapers  in  America.  In  America  peo- 
ple believe  in  the  wisdom  and  charity  of  shielding  from 
public  gaze  the  misdeeds  of  the  weak-willed.  In  no 
American  weeklies  or  dailies  published  in  small  towns 
have  I  seen  a  single  case  of  scandal  reported.  On  the 
other  hand,  Japanese  newspapers  find  justification  for 


56  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

their  apparent  sensationalism  in  the  motto  of  the  nov- 
elists of  the  old  school,  "  Encourage  virtue,  rebuke  vice." 
An  American  visitor  in  Japan,  who  hastens  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  presence  of  so  many  scandals  in  news- 
papers indicates  the  low  standards  of  morality  among  the 
Japanese,  is  no  more  right  in  his  observation  than  a  Japa- 
nese who  would  infer  the  absence  of  misdeeds  among 
Americans  from  the  fact  that  the  Americans  do  not  talk 
scandals  on  the  streets.  The  American  is  subtle,  tact- 
ful, and  charitable  in  dealing  with  scandal ;  the  Japanese, 
straightforward,  tactless,  and  relentless. 

Social  conventions.  Oriental  or  Occidental,  are  often 
absurd  and  meaningless.  Why  is  it  that  the  American 
women  should  be  forbidden  under  pain  of  ostracism  to 
expose  their  bosoms  on  the  beach,  when  they  are  ex- 
pected to  reveal  them  in  a  ballroom?  Does  it  not  seem 
more  natural  for  a  woman  to  expose  her  bosom  when 
taking  a  plunge  in  the  surf  than  when  whirling  to  the 
sound  of  exciting  music,  clasped  in  the  arms  of  her 
masculine  partner?  Does  it  not  seem  the  height  of  folly 
for  an  elderly  dame  to  wear  decollete  dress,  coaxing 
departing  youth  to  linger  upon  her  bosom  by  a  liberal 
application  of  cream  and  powder  ?  Why  is  it  that  Ameri- 
can women,  who  think  it  perfectly  correct  to  expose  their 
feet  on  the  beach,  would  be  handed  over  to  the  police 
should  they  do  the  same  in  a  ballroom?  Why  should 
Americans  be  shocked  by  the  innocent,  unconscious  ex- 
posure of  legs  or  the  body,  common  among  the  Japanese, 
especially  among  the  lower  classes  ?  Does  it  not  appear 
that  the  partial  exposure  of  the  person  incidental  to 
health,  cleanliness,  or  convenience  in  doing  necessary 
work,  is  far  more  modest  and  sensible  than  an  exposure 
which  is  merely  for  show  ?  He  who  imputes  immorality 
to  such  nudity  betrays  the  pruriency  of  his  mind.    Have 


MUTUAL  DISILLUSIONMENT  57 

we  any  right  to  laugh  at  the  Mohammedan  women,  who 
think  it  sinful  to  show  their  faces  but  uncover  their  legs 
without  blushing?  The  Hindu  women  hide  their  faces, 
yet  their  figures  are  clearly  visible  through  their  dresses 
of  transparent  gauze.  The  prude  may  be  shocked  to 
learn  that  even  "  the  glory  that  was  Greece  "  produced 
a  great  philosopher  who  urged  that  young  men  and 
women  should  see  each  other  in  nakedness,  that  they 
might  know  what  sort  of  a  person  they  were  to  marry. 
In  this  year  of  grace,  1913,  American  ministers — Dean 
Sumner  of  Chicago  University  one  of  them — advocate 
the  adoption  of  this  Platonic  idea  in  modified  form,  when 
they  urge  medical  examination  as  an  essential  condition 
for  granting  a  marriage  certificate.  After  all,  American 
young  men  and  girls,  who  may  some  day  have  to  endure 
such  embarrassing  examinations,  seem  not  much  better 
oflF  than  the  Japanese  lasses  and  lads  who  entrust  them- 
selves to  the  loving  guidance  of  their  parents,  who  in- 
quire with  the  utmost  care  into  the  genealogy,  character, 
education,  habits,  and  health  of  those  who  are  to  be  the 
life  companions  of  their  sons  or  daughters. 

The  better  the  Japanese  people  are  studied  and  under- 
stood, the  more  will  it  be  felt  that  a  great  injustice  has 
been  done  them  in  the  sweeping  attacks  made  upon  their 
women.  It  will  indeed  be  found  that  charges  of  unchas- 
tity  brought  by  foreigners  against  the  Japanese  rather 
recoil  upon  the  character  of  the  accusers,  who  would 
appear  to  have  studied  women  in  the  brothels  of  open 
ports.  Licensed  prostitution  in  Japan  is  deplorable 
enough,  but  "  why  beholdest  thou  the  mote  that  is  in  thy 
brother's  eye,  but  not  the  beam  in  thine  own  ?  "  Before 
Japan  opened  any  port  to  foreign  trade,  says  Dr.  Griffis, 
the  greatest  American  authority  on  Japan,  "  the  Japa- 
nese built  two  places  for  the  foreigner — a  custom  house 


58  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

and  a  brothel — for  they  believed  the  foreigners  to  be  far 
•worse  than  themselves.  How  far  were  they  wrong?" 
And  Mr.  A.  B.  Mitford,  an  English  authority  on  Japan, 
says :  "  Vice  jostling  in  the  public  places ;  virtue  imitating 
the  fashion  set  by  vice,  and  buying  trinkets  or  furniture 
at  the  sale  of  vice's  effects — these  are  social  phenomena 
which  the  East  knows  not."  It  is  wrong  to  judge  the 
Japanese  courtesan  from  a  Western  point  of  view.  She 
is  not  necessarily  a  depraved  soul,  entering  a  life  of  dis- 
grace from  reprehensible  motives,  but  often  a  sacrifice 
offered  on  the  altar  of  Confucian  ethics,  holding  filial 
piety  and  obedience  to  be  the  highest  virtues.  In  the 
days  of  old,  pure,  innocent  damsels  often  volunteered  to 
sell  themselves  into  the  brothel  to  relieve  their  parents  of 
debts  or  other  obligations.  To-day  such  heroines  are 
becoming  fewer  and  fewer,  and  the  harlot's  function  has 
no  longer  attached  to  it  such  ethical  glamour  as  was  glo- 
rified by  novelists  of  the  old  school.  But  as  long  as  the 
white-slave  trade  in  our  midst  is  so  horrible,  as  has  been 
revealed  by  the  reports  of  the  vice  commissions  in  New 
York  and  Chicago,  we  had  better  refrain  from  making 
the  Japanese  a  target  of  criticism. 

There  is  nothing  inscrutable  about  the  Japanese,  if  one 
looks  at  him  without  bias.  Mr.  Roosevelt  cites  Lafcadio 
Hearn  and  Rudyard  Kipling  as  two  great  authorities  who 
believe  in  the  inscrutability  of  the  Japanese.  No  one  is 
a  sincerer  and  more  ardent  admirer  of  Lafcadio  Hearn 
than  I.  I  admire  him  as  a  poet  and  artist;  as  an  in- 
terpreter of  Japan,  his  authority  is  open  to  question. 
Such  a  book  of  his  as  "  Gleanings  in  Buddha  Fields  "  is 
destined  to  become  immortal,  but  his  "  Japan,  an  Attempt 
at  Interpretation  "  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  authorita- 
tive. With  all  his  poetic  intuition,  Hearn  failed  to  see 
Japan  as  she  really  was.    His  picture  of  Japan  creates 


MUTUAL  DISILLUSIONMENT  59 

with  us  an  impression  that  the  Japanese  are  a  people 
utterly  different  from  Western  peoples  in  ideals  and 
traits.  More  critical,  though  less  romantic  observers, 
more  and  more  disagree  with  Hearn.  The  basic  qualities 
and  character  of  the  Japanese  are  much  the  same  as 
those  of  the  European.  As  for  Mr.  Kipling's  writings, 
I  need  only  say  that  his  articles  on  Japan,  written  for  the 
London  Times  and  republished  in  "  From  Sea  to  Sea,"  are 
the  most  delightful  reading  ever  proceeding  from  the  pen 
of  a  globe-trotter.  And  what  a  globe-trotter  Mr.  Kip- 
ling is ! 

The  more  closely  we  look  into  the  question,  the  more 
superficial  does  the  difference  between  the  East  and  the 
West  appear.  Even  the  kimono  reminds  us  of  the  Eu- 
rope of  the  Middle  Ages,  in  which  originated  the  flowing 
gowns  worn  by  European  ministers  and  professors  of  to- 
day. The  arts  and  crafts  of  Japan  are  not  dissimilar  to 
those  of  the  Middle  Ages  in  Europe.  Ancestor  worship, 
which  is  considered  totally  foreign  to  the  Westerners, 
finds  its  counterpart  in  the  Christian  idea  that  the  de- 
parted are  received  in  heaven  and  there  become  angels. 
If  the  Occidental  is  encouraged  to  live  a  life  of  virtue 
by  the  belief  that  he  will  live  among  angels  after  his  de- 
parture from  this  world,  the  Japanese  is  impelled  to 
achieve  meritorious  deeds  by  the  conviction  that  he  will, 
when  his  earthly  existence  ceases,  be  worshipped  by  his 
descendants  just  as  he  worshipped  his  forefathers.  Could 
we  not  find  a  point  of  contact  in  these  two  conceptions? 
Had  a  European  nation  existed  through  centuries  in  iso- 
lation as  Japan  did,  it  would  have  followed  much  the 
same  line  of  progress  as  Japan.  Both  Europe  and  Japan 
are  imitators,  and  in  this  respect  they  are  radically  dif- 
ferent from  China.  China  invented  all  that  she  had  and 
was  self-sufficient.    Neither  Europe  nor  Japan  invented 


60  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

what  it  has.  Japan  imitated  Chinese  and  later  Western 
civilization ;  modern  Europe  founded  its  civilization  upon 
legacies  left  by  China  and  Greece.  But,  inasmuch  as 
successful  imitation  presupposes  creative  ability,  both 
Europe  and  Japan  have  been  and  are  developing  new- 
ideas  and  making  new  inventions,  as  well  as  modifying 
and  improving  what  was  bequeathed  by  older  civili- 
zations. 

Disillusionment  as  frequently  follows  over-praise  as 
it  precedes  true  appreciation.  The  present  disappoint- 
ment manifested  by  the  West  with  regard  to  Japan  and 
the  Japanese  will  in  due  time  give  way  to  truer  under- 
staHding  and  higher  appreciation  of  Japanese  character, 
ideals,  civilization,  and  culture.  Meanwhile,  Japan  will 
continue  to  adopt,  absorb,  modify,  and  improve  ideas,  in- 
stitutions, and  the  arts  of  peace,  which  the  West  has  to 
offer  her.  Professor  Sydney  Gulick  forecasts  Japan's 
future  in  these  words : 

"The  race  or  people  who  can  best  synthesize  the 
thoughts  and  experiences  of  other  races  is  the  one  to 
have  a  rich  life.  And  it  seems  to  me  that  Japan  bids 
fair  to  excel  here.  She  combines,  as  no  other  nation 
does  to-day,  the  two  great  and  hitherto  divergent  streams 
of  Occidental  and  Oriental  civilizations  and  languages. 
She  has  the  power  of  holding,  appreciating,  and  enjoy- 
ing a  larger  variety  of  different  modes  of  life,  of  wear- 
ing apparel,  of  language,  of  ideals,  of  travel,  and  of 
amusement  than  any  other  nation  with  which  I  am  ac- 
quainted. She  is  so  situated  in  the  midst  of  the  con- 
vergent streams  of  Eastern  and  Western  civilizations, 
with  her  immense  variety  of  languages,  customs,  ideas, 
and  religion,  that  she  bids  fair  in  due  time  to  develop  a 
life  of  marvellous  wealth.  Her  dream  not  only  of  re- 
ceiving all  that  is  good  from  other  nations,  but  in  due 


MUTUAL  DISILLUSIONMENT  6l 

time  of  giving  something  of  worth  to  the  world,  will 
doubtless  be  realized." 

It  is  Japan's  hope  not  to  disappoint  such  well-wishers 
as  Professor  Gulick.  And  the  more  the  Japanese  are 
maligned  and  oppressed  at  the  hands  of  foreign  nations, 
the  firmer  and  more  unconquerable  will  their  determina- 
tion become  to  rise  and  to  attain  the  end  which  they 
have  started  out  to  reach. 


Ill 

CAN  WE  AMERICANIZE  THEM? 

NO  nation,  perhaps,  has  turned  to  environment  so 
sensitive  a  front  as  the  Japanese.  Its  history 
of  twenty-five  centuries  is  a  record  of  unceasing 
adoption  and  assimilation.  Aye,  the  process  of  assimi- 
lation began  even  before  the  curtain  of  history  rose  upon 
the  pristine  calmness  of  its  Elysian  islands,  for  the  archi- 
pelago seems  from  time  immemorial  to  have  been  the 
meeting  ground  of  all  races  inhabiting  the  Asian  continent 
and  its  adjacent  islands.  From  the  South  came  various 
tribes  of  Southern  China,  of  the  Malayan  islands,  and  of 
India ;  from  the  northwest  came  tribes  of  Korea,  Tartary, 
Mongolia,  and  Northern  China ;  from  the  grim  forests  in 
the  north  the  Ainu  descended  upon  the  sunlit  plains  of 
Southern  Japan;  even  the  aborigines  of  North  America 
seem  to  have  crossed  the  Pacific  to  swell  the  confluence 
of  human  streams  that  was  forming  in  the  archipelago  of 
Japan. 

A  glance  at  the  map  of  Eastern  Asia  convinces  us  of 
the  comparative  ease  with  which  these  early  tribes  must 
have  steered  their  courses  towards  Japan  over  vast  ex- 
panses of  water.  Off  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Asian  con- 
tinent a  chain  of  innumerable  islands  runs  from  north 
to  south,  as  if  forming  stepping-stones  between  the 
tropical  islands  of  the  Malayan  group  and  the  peninsula 
of  Kamchatka  in  the  grip  of  eternal  ice.  In  this  chain 
of  islands  Japan  occupies  the  most  fortunate  position.    To 

62 


CAN  WE  AMERICANIZE  THEM?  63 

enhance  the  advantage  afforded  by  this  geographical 
configuration,  the  shores  of  Japan  are  laved  by  a  warm 
current  which  issues  from  the  South  Sea  and  which 
finally  runs  towards  Canada,  across  the  Pacific.  The 
monsoon,  too,  blows  from  the  South  Sea,  taking  in  spring 
an  oblique  southerly  course  towards  the  Pacific,  and  in 
autumn  veering  to  the  opposite  direction.  For  the  rest- 
less souls  of  prehistoric  times,  therefore,  it  was  no  in- 
surmountable difficulty  to  drift  from  island  to  island 
until  the  fair  scenery  of  Southern  Japan  greeted  their 
eyes.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  the  Japanese  nation 
incorporated  a  greater  variety  of  races  than  any  other 
nation  in  the  world.  That  some  of  these  component  races 
were  of  Aryan  origin  not  a  few  scholars  have  begun  to 
recognize. 

When  the  primitive  tribes  met  with  one  another  in  the 
fair  isles  of  Japan,  they  saw  little  cause  for  quarrel.  The 
climate  was  agreeable  and  the  earth  bountiful;  and  the 
sea  was  so  abundantly  supplied  with  fish  that  they  could 
be  caught  by  hand  without  any  trouble  of  netting.  There 
was  plenty  of  food  for  every  one,  and  the  winding  hills 
and  embracing  valleys  afforded  hospitable  shelters — why 
should  they  quarrel?  And  so  aborigines  and  immigrants 
freely  and  happily  intermingled  and  conversed  over  the 
hearth  in  a  tongue  that  quickly  became  common  among 
them.  With  the  barrier  of  race  animosity  thus  insensibly 
removed,  it  was  but  natural  that  the  Japanese  people 
should  draw  into  its  veins  the  blood  of  numerous  tribes 
and  races. 

That  indeed  was  the  first  step  toward  assimilation. 
As  the  various  races  became  fairly  homogeneous  and  uni- 
fied under  a  common  government,  they  began  to  adopt 
the  civilizations  and  cultures  of  continental  countries, 
especially  of  China.    When  Japan  came  in  contact  with 


64  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

the  Western  world,  she  set  out  to  study  and  absorb  the 
civilization  of  Europe  and  America  with  the  same  zeal 
and  receptivity  which  she  had  displayed  in  adopting  the 
civilization  of  the  Asian  continent. 

Mr.  Robert  P.  Porter  means  to  be  courteous,  I  pre- 
sume, when  he  says,  in  his  "  Full  Recognition  of  Japan," 
that  Japan  absorbs  but  does  not  imitate.  Let  us  be  more 
frank  and  admit  that  the  Japanese  are  imitators.  Imita- 
tion, however  distasteful  to  the  sensitive  Japanese  that 
word  may  be,  is  a  virtue  and  trait  common  to  all  pro- 
gressive nations.  "  Herein,"  says  no  less  an  authority 
than  Dr.  W.  E.  Griffis,  "  is  the  abysmal  difference  be- 
tween the  Chinese  and  Japanese,  yes,  between  the  sons 
of  Ham  and  ourselves.  The  Chinese  invented  what  they 
have.  We  did  not,  nor  did  the  Japanese.  The  Chinese 
have  had  but  one  culture.  It  is  indigenous.  They  have 
held  to  it  and  have  only  recently,  under  pressure  from 
all  sides  and  within,  begun  to  change.  The  Japanese, 
like  ourselves,  inventing  little  until  modern  times,  adopt 
and  adapt  new  things,  and  even  become  adepts.  Always, 
when  opportunity  offered,  they  took  the  novelties  and 
were  soon  at  home  with  them.  The  Japanese  mind,  thor- 
oughly un-Mongolian,  works  in  other  grooves  than  those 
smoothed  by  the  Chinese." 

Successful  imitation  implies  creative  ability.  No  peo- 
ple, not  endowed  with  originality,  can  adopt  the  compli- 
cated sciences  and  the  intricate  machinery  of  industry 
of  other  nations,  and  in  a  comparatively  short  time  be 
thoroughly  at  home  with  them.  Herein  lies  justification 
for  Mr.  Porter's  assertion  that  Japan  is  not  a  nation  of 
copyists.  For  she  modifies  the  arts  and  ideas  of  other 
nations  to  meet  their  peculiar  needs  and  to  suit  their 
own  ideas.  Take,  for  instance,  the  fine  arts  of  Japan. 
Japan  was  China's  pupil  in  painting  and  sculpture,  yet 


CAN  WE  AMERICANIZE   THEM?  65 

the  style  of  painting  and  sculpture  which  she  eventually 
developed  is  no  more  Chinese  than  the  painting  and 
sculpture  of  Europe.  Western  critics  recognize  admi- 
rable qualities  in  the  fine  arts  of  the  Japanese;  they 
declare  that  in  this  particular  field  the  Japanese  displayed 
remarkable  creative  genius.  What  they  have  achieved  in 
the  field  of  fine  arts  they  are  also  achieving  in  other  fields. 
No  nation  of  mere  copyists  could  handle  the  intricate 
yet  tremendous  machinery  of  modern  warfare  with  such 
absolute  mastery  and  precision  as  has  been  displayed 
by  the  Japanese.  No  nation  of  mimics  without  creative 
genius  could  in  a  brief  period  of  thirty  or  forty  years 
master  the  industrial  arts  of  the  Occident  so  completely 
as  to  enable  it  to  construct  mighty  dreadnoughts,  to  build 
mammoth  merchant  vessels,  and  to  establish  and  operate 
great  factories.  In  the  world  of  material  science,  also, 
Japan  has  already  made  remarkable  records.  Even  the 
comparatively  new  and  small  Japanese  community  in 
America  already  boasts  of  such  scientists  as  Dr.  Takamine 
and  Dr.  Noguchi,  of  New  York,  whose  remarkable  inven- 
tions and  discoveries  are  well-known  among  the  special- 
ists of  all  countries. 

Professor  Sydney  Gulick,  for  fifteen  years  an  educator 
in  Japan,  attributes  the  imitative  trait  of  the  Japanese 
to  his  sensitiveness  to  environment;  his  success  in  imi- 
tation he  traces  to  the  flexibility  of  his  mental  constitu- 
tion. "  Great  flexibility,  adjustability,  agility  (both  men- 
tal and  physical),  and  the  powers  of  keen  attention  to 
details  and  of  exact  imitation  " — these  are  qualities  with 
which  Professor  Gulick  credits  the  Japanese.  Comparing 
Japanese  imitation  with  that  of  other  nations,  this  Ameri- 
can scholar  has  this  to  say : 

"  The  difference  between  Japanese  imitation  and  that 
of  other  nations  lies  in  the  fact  that  whereas  the  latter, 


66  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

as  a  rule,  despise  foreign  races,  and  do  not  admit  the 
superiority  of  alien  civilizations  as  a  whole,  imitating  only 
a  detail  here  and  there,  often  without  acknowledgment 
and  sometimes  even  without  knowledge,  the  Japanese,  on 
the  other  hand,  have  repeatedly  been  placed  in  such  cir- 
cumstances as  to  see  the  superiority  of  foreign  civiliza- 
tions as  a  whole,  and  to  desire  their  general  adoption. 
This  has  produced  a  spirit  of  imitation  among  all  the 
individuals  of  the  race.  It  has  become  a  part  of  their 
social  inheritance.  This  explanation  largely  accounts  for 
the  striking  difference  between  Japanese  and  Chinese  in 
the  Occident.  The  Japanese  go  to  the  West  in  order 
to  acquire  all  the  West  can  give.  The  Chinaman  goes 
steeled  against  its  influences.  The  spirit  of  the  Japanese 
renders  him  quickly  susceptible  to  every  change  in  his 
surroundings.  He  is  ever  noting  details  and  adapting 
himself  to  his  circumstances.  The  spirit  of  the  China- 
man, on  the  contrary,  renders  him  quite  oblivious  to  his 
environment.  His  mind  is  closed.  Under  special  circum- 
stances, when  a  Chinaman  has  been  liberated  from  the 
prepossession  of  his  social  inheritance,  he  has  shown  him- 
self as  capable  of  Occidentalization  in  clothing,  speech, 
manner,  and  thought  as  a  Japanese.  Such  cases,  how- 
ever are  rare." 

I  have  dwelt  at  length  upon  the  peculiarity  of  Japanese 
character,  because  it  has  vital  bearings  upon  the  ques- 
tion of  their  Americanization.  If  the  Japanese  were  mere 
copyists  without  individuality,  we  have  little  reason  for 
expecting  them  to  become  valuable  assets  of  the  Repub- 
lic. If,  on  the  other  hand,  their  personality  is  such  as 
to  prevent  them  from  appreciating  the  superior  points 
of  foreign  civilizations,  we  have  no  more  reason  for  hop- 
ing to  convert  them  into  faithful  members  of  our  com- 
munity.   It  is  because  the  Japanese  are  endowed  with 


CAN   WE  AMERICANIZE   THEM?  67 

both  distinct  individuality  and  extraordinary  suscepti- 
bility to  environment  that  we  feel  justified  in  believing 
that  their  physical  peculiarities  will  constitute  no  insur- 
mountable obstacle  to  their  Americanization. 

True,  their  proverbial  patriotism  furnishes  some 
Americans  a  cause  for  apprehension,  but  I  hold  that  this 
quality,  instead  of  proving  a  hindrance,  will  be  found 
an  auxiliary  to  our  efforts  to  assimilate  them.  No  immi- 
grants, who  come  from  a  country  where  they  enjoyed  the 
benefits  of  an  honest,  efficient  government,  enter  the 
portal  of  our  country  without  casting  longing  eyes  to- 
wards their  native  land.  They  alone  fail  to  experience 
such  feeling  who  left  behind  them  a  degenerate  or  back- 
ward state  which  they  see  no  reason  to  be  proud  of.  Of 
these  two  classes  of  immigrants  which  ai  t  Lhe  more  de- 
sirable? To  this  question  many  divergent  answers  may 
be  given,  but  to  me  it  appears  that  those  immigrants 
who  formed,  while  in  their  native  country,  the  habit  of 
respecting  law  and  government  not  only  out  of  the  sense 
of  duty  but  out  of  sincere  affecti'  a  and  devotion,  would 
find  no  difficulty  in  appreciating  a  government  which  is 
founded  upon  the  principle  "  that  all  men  are  created 
equal,  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  cer- 
tain inalienable  rights,  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty, 
and  the  pursuit  of  happiness." 

Take,  for  example,  the  German  immigrants.  The  Kai- 
ser*s  subjects  are  no  less  loyal  to  the  fatherland  than 
the  Mikado's  subjects  are  devoted  to  the  Land  of  the 
Rising  Sun.  Yet  it  is  not  many  years  after  his  arrival 
in  this  land  of  opportunity  that  the  German  becomes  its 
ardent  admirer.  Time  was  when  Germans  in  America 
maintained  their  own  schools  and  newspapers  and  were 
regarded  by  the  Americans  as  a  '*  menace,"  yet  to-day  no 
one  ventures  to  deny  that  the  German  population  is  an 


68  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

invaluable  asset  to  the  country.  Will  the  Japanese  be 
like  the  German?  To  Americanize  the  Japanese  it  be- 
hooves us  to  treat  them  in  accord  with  the  American 
spirit.  The  Japanese  do  not  want  us  alternately  to  praise 
them  and  revile  them ;  what  they  ask  is  the  observance  on 
our  part  of  the  elementary  principles  of  justice  and  fair- 
ness. "  Life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  "  are 
what  was  held  by  our  forefathers  to  be  sacred,  and  to 
guard  these  precious  possessions  we  did  not  hesitate 
to  shed  the  blood  of  three  generations.  Men  who  con- 
spire to  violate  these  fundamental  principles  are  running 
directly  counter  to  the  spirit  of  this  Republic. 

Whether  our  country  has  reached  a  stage  where  we 
should  no  longer  receive  immigrants  without  restriction, 
is  a  question  which  I  cannot  discuss  here.  One  thing, 
however,  seems  certain :  namely,  that  any  alien,  once  ad- 
mitted into  our  territories,  must  also  be  given  opportu- 
nity to  prove  that  he  can  be  a  faithful  and  worthy  citizen 
of  the  Republic.  To  be  more  definite,  our  doors  of  citi- 
zenship must  be  open  to  all  aliens,  and  especially  those 
who  come  from  countries  which  by  dint  of  their  achieve- 
ments in  the  arts  of  peace  and  of  warfare,  have  been  ad- 
mitted into  the  family  of  civilized  nations.  For  the  sake 
of  our  national  solidarity  and  advancement,  it  is  not 
advisable  that  any  alien  should  be  permitted  to  enter  our 
country  without  at  the  same  time  affording  him  the 
privilege  to  become  a  citizen.  Foreign  people  living 
within  our  jurisdiction  with  no  hope  of  becoming  Ameri- 
can citizens,  constitute  a  floating,  unstable  element  in 
our  national  existence.  They  will  not  feel  with  us,  nor 
will  they  think  as  we  think.  To  them  the  woe  and  weal 
of  our  body  politic  are  of  little  consequence,  and  the 
conduct  of  our  public  affairs  is  of  no  greater  interest 
than  the  domestic  affairs  of  their  strange  neighbours. 


CAN  WE  AMERICANIZE  THEM?  69 

Nor  is  this  all.  When  we  single  out  aliens  of  a  cer- 
tain race  or  nationality  as  objects  of  discrimination  in 
the  matter  of  naturalization,  we  fix  upon  them  the  odium 
of  inferiority  and  thus  instill  in  their  hearts  a  feeling  of 
resentment.  We  look  down  upon  them  with  contempt, 
and  they  reciprocate  with  disdain.  We  assume  a  suspi- 
cious attitude  towards  them,  and  they  also  look  at  us  with 
suspicion.  It  is  human  nature,  and  cannot  be  avoided. 
The  remedy  is  obvious.  Open  the  doors  of  citizenship  to 
them,  encourage  them  to  become  worthy  members  of 
the  commonwealth,  and  their  hearts  will  glow  with  hope 
and  they  will  strive  to  prove  their  right  and  fitness  to 
become  American  citizens.  For  hope  is  a  wonderful  re- 
deemer, lifting  men  out  of  abandonment,  and  kindling 
in  their  bosoms  the  fire  of  aspiration.  Give  the  Japanese 
in  America  an  equal  opportunity  with  other  aliens,  and 
they  will  respond  as  whole-heartedly  and  loyally  as  any 
other  foreigner  under  our  flag.  No  problem  can  be 
solved  by  hate  and  prejudice,  certainly  not  the  Japanese 
question.  No  people  can  be  assimilated  by  pressure  and 
persecution,  certainly  not  the  Japanese,  a  people  en- 
dowed with  the  keenest  sense  of  honour  and  pride.  The 
great  assimilating  power  of  the  American  nation  is  or 
has  been,  I  believe,  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  here  in 
the  land  of  freedom  the  immigrants  are  permitted  to 
bask  in  the  blessings  of  a  liberal  government  and  are  un- 
hampered by  inequitable  restraint.  Why  fetter  the  Japa- 
nese with  discriminatory  measures  and  drive  them  into 
a  path  which  leads  counter  to  the  goal  which  we  desire 
them  to  attain? 

Be  it  far  from  me  to  contend  that  we  should  natural- 
ize all  aliens  as  they  come.  On  the  contrary,  I  urge  that 
we  should  jealously  guard  our  high  standards  of  citi- 
zenship against  all  debasing  influences.    We  should  de- 


70  ASIA   AT   THE   DOOR 

mand  of  every  candidate  for  citizenship  the  fulfilment  of 
all  conditions  requisite  in  making  him  a  desirable  mem- 
ber of  the  democracy.  If  the  present  naturalization  law 
is  too  lax  in  this  respect,  it  should  be  revised  so  as  to 
safeguard  the  moral  well-being  of  our  country.  What  I 
protest  against  is  the  false  notion  that  all  Asiatics  are 
"  undesirables,"  while  all  Europeans  are  "  desirables." 
Physiognomy,  stature,  and  the  colour  of  the  skin  have 
no  more  bearing  upon  the  moral  character  and  intel- 
lectual quality  of  a  man  than  the  pattern  of  garments 
he  wears.  There  are  just  as  many  knaves  and  sharpers 
in  other  civilized  countries  as  in  Japan.  If  China  has 
her  Hatchet  Men,  Italy  has  her  Black  Hands.  As  sang 
an  ancient  poet : 

"The  world  in  all  doth  but  two  nations  bear, — 
The  good  and  bad,  and  these  mixed  everywhere." 

It  is,  however,  fair  to  add  that  the  Japanese  community 
on  either  side  of  the  Pacific  has  never  had  anything  like 
the  Hatchet  Man  or  the  Black  Hand,  whose  atrocious 
methods  of  extortion  have  struck  terror  into  the  hearts 
of  all  denizens  of  the  Bowery  and  of  Chinatown. 
Neither  have  the  Japanese  established  in  any  American 
city  such  filthy  quarters  as  have  been  established  by  im- 
migrants from  certain  other  countries.  There  is  no 
sound  reason  why  the  Japanese  should  not  be  naturalized. 

In  connection  with  the  naturalization  of  the  Japanese, 
the  question  of  intermarriage  is  of  special  interest.  Here 
and  there  the  miraculous  hands  of  love  razed  the  barrier 
of  prejudice  and  united  men  of  Japan  and  our  daughters 
in  "  the  sweet  bond  of  holy  wedlock."  Fortunately  such 
unions  have,  as  a  rule,  been  successful.  And  why  not? 
Despite  wide  difference  in  customs  and  manners,  the  tra- 


CAN   WE  AMERICANIZE   THEM?  71 

ditions  of  American  families  are  not  much  different  from 
those  of  Japanese  families  of  the  corresponding  class. 
What  is  different  is  merely  outward  forms;  the  basic 
ideas  are  the  same.  Moreover,  in  the  sphere  of  intel- 
ligence and  character  there  is  neither  race  nor  nation- 
ality.   In  the  words  of  Kipling: 

"But  there  is  neither  East  nor  West, 
i         Border,  nor  breed,  nor  birth, 

When  two  strong  men  stand  face  to  face, 
Though  they  come  from  the  ends  of  the  earth." 

Marriage  of  a  man  and  a  woman  on  totally  different 
planes  of  education  and  intellectuality  would  be  unfor- 
tunate, even  when  they  both  belong  to  the  same  race 
and  nationality.  Where  intermarriage  between  a  Japa- 
nese and  an  American  has  proved  unhappy,  the  failure 
can  usually  be  traced  to  causes  other  than  racial. 

A  California  writer,  a  newspaper  correspondent,  who 
evidently  thinks  that  painstaking  investigation  and  fidel- 
ity to  truth  form  no  part  of  a  writer's  duty  and  responsi- 
bility, discusses  intermarriage  between  Japanese  men  and 
American  women,  and  says : 

"  In  all  cases  the  white  woman  has  been  ostracized  by 
Americans,  but  even  stronger  in  proof  of  the  impossi- 
bility of  the  amalgamation  of  the  races  is  the  fact  that 
the  Japanese  man  has  also  become  an  outcast  from  his 
own  race  by  reason  of  the  marriage.  The  offspring  are 
neither  Japanese  nor  American,  but  half-breed  weaklings, 
who  doctors  declare  have  neither  the  intelligence  nor 
healthfulness  of  either  race,  in  conformity  with  the  teach- 
ing of  biology,  that  the  mating  of  extreme  types  produces 
deficient  offspring." 

I  am  reluctant  to  question  the  profundity  of  the  bio- 
logical knowledge  which  this  writer  claims  to  have,  but 


72  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

I  fear  he  has  to  study  a  bit  more.  If  book-reading  is  not 
his  forte,  he  may  at  least  make  a  round  of  calls  to  the 
homes  of  American- Japanese  couples  and  see  if  he  could 
find  the  wee  weaklings  of  his  imagination.  I  know  in 
California,  whose  laws  forbid  the  union  of  Caucasians 
and  Orientals,  white  women  married  to  Japanese  are 
placed  in  uncomfortable  positions,  but  California  is  dif- 
ferent. In  no  Eastern  States  are  such  snobbery  and 
provincialism  displayed  with  regard  to  intermarriage. 
Even  on  the  Pacific  Coast  other  States  are  not  so  averse 
to  American- Japanese  marriages.  As  for  the  Japanese 
being  ostracised  on  account  of  his  marriage  to  a  white 
woman,  the  story  is  too  absurd  to  require  a  refuta- 
tion. 

I  should  not  be  so  severe  in  criticising  the  Califor- 
nian,  for  I  myself  used  to  view  intermarriage  with  dis- 
favour. I  used  to  see  in  the  open  ports  in  Japan  boys 
and  girls  born  to  the  Japanese  "  wives  "  of  Europeans 
and  Americans.  Such  "  Eurasians,"  with  few  excep- 
tions, seemed  neither  bright  nor  robust.  In  my  youthful, 
unreasoning  mind,  I  fancied  that  marriage  of  Occidentals 
and  Orientals  was  disastrous.  As  I  grew  older,  I  learned 
to  think  more  rationally  and  to  place  the  blame  where 
it  belonged.  The  trouble  with  those  Eurasian  children 
was  that  their  Japanese  mothers  were  mere  hirelings, 
employed  for  the  time  being  to  satisfy  the  lust  of  sailors 
and  traders  from  Europe  and  America.  What  could  we 
expect  from  such  promiscuous  "  marriages  "  ?  Wanton 
'love  is  destructive  alike  to  the  home  and  to  the  human 
race.  On  the  other  hand,  men  like  Lafcadio  Hearn  and 
Captain  Brinkley,  who  made  homes  in  Japan  with  edu- 
cated, respectable  Japanese  women,  are  blessed  with  chil- 
dren who  are  mentally  and  physically  as  wholesome  as 
any  child. 


CAN   WE  AMERICANIZE  THEM?  73 

But  we  must  come  back  to  America.  There  are  at 
present  in  the  entire  United  States  some  300  Japanese 
who  have  married  American  women.  Of  these  about 
250  are  in  the  Eastern  States,  about  50  on  the  Pacific 
Coast. 

Homes  resulting  from  the  union  of  Japanese  and  Cau- 
casians are  usually  happy,  and  the  children  born  and 
reared  in  such  homes  are  both  healthy  and  bright.  In 
^  appearance,  in  temperament,  in  manner  such  children 
are  so  completely  American  that  one  can  hardly  detect 
Japanese  blood  in  their  veins,  unless  one  is  informed  of 
their  parentage.  Especially  is  this  the  case  when  their 
mothers  are  American.  True,  their  eyes  and  hair  are 
dark,  but  there  are  many  white  children  whose  eyes  and 
hair  are  no  lighter.  As  one  watches  these  children  one 
is  struck  with  a  peculiar  charm  in  their  physical  expres- 
sions. Perhaps  this  is  because  the  harsh  contour  of  Oc- 
cidental physique  is  somewhat  softened  by  the  inherent 
subtilty  of  the  Oriental  race.  Their  mental  agility  is 
extraordinary,  and  as  they  grow  older  they  show  sur- 
prising proficiency.  We  shall  not  be  surprised  if  in 
the  coming  few  decades  we  find  among  these  American- 
Japanese  children  of  to-day  scholars  and  artists  whom 
we  may  well  be  proud  of.  When  I  heard  a  noted  agi- 
tator shout,  in  one  of  his  fire-spitting  harangues  be- 
fore San  Francisco  labourers,  that  "  if  Japanese  and 
Americans  intermarried  the  result  would  be  a  nation 
of  gaspipe  thugs  and  human  hyenas,"  I  could  not  help 
laughing  in  spite  of  the  solemn  audience  about  me,  for 
I  could  not  but  believe  that  this  famous  hero  of  the 
dynamite  conspiracy  was  indulging  in  jest.  This  reminds 
me  of  what  the  elder  Dumas  said  to  his  friend,  Cremieux, 
a  notoriously  homely  man,  when  the  latter  tried  to  turn 
a   laugh   against  the   great  novelist.     "  Was   your   fa- 


74  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

ther  a  mulatto?"  asked  Cremieux.  "Yes,"  replied 
Dumas,  "  my  father  was  a  mulatto,  my  grandfather  a 
negro,  and  my  great-grandfather  a  monkey;  my  family 
began  where  yours  ends." 

In  the  assimilation  of  aliens  within  our  borders  reli- 
gion must,  of  course,  shoulder  a  great  responsibility. 
Churches  and  all  institutions  founded  upon  the  princi- 
ple of  humanity  and  universal  brotherhood,  must  receive 
the  aliens  not  only  with  open  arms  but  with  open  hearts. 
By  dint  of  sympathy  they  must  throw  across  the  chasm 
of  racial  prejudice  a  bridge  of  mutual  understanding. 
How  strange  that  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tions on  the  Pacific  Coast  should  refuse  to  admit  Japa- 
nese into  their  membership!  Surely  this  was  not  the 
kind  of  fraternity  for  which  Jesus  of  Nazareth  sacrificed 
his  blood.  Some  three  years  ago  a  Japanese,  a  clerk 
of  the  Japanese  Consulate-General,  applied  for  admission 
to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  at  Honolulu,  but  was  rejected.  The 
event  created  at  the  time  something  of  a  sensation,  as 
Dr.  Doremus  Scudder  and  the  majority  of  American 
residents  severely  criticised  the  discriminatory  measure 
adopted  by  the  secretary  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  The  con- 
troversy, at  which  the  rejected  applicant  was  an  inter- 
ested onlooker,  continued  for  almost  a  year,  at  the  end 
of  which  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  decided  to  admit  the  Japanese. 
By  that  time,  however,  the  Japanese  had  become  so  pro- 
voked that  he  no  longer  cared  to  join  the  fraternity. 
I  presume  that  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  rather  glad  that  he 
declined  the  belated  invitation,  for  it  had  decided  upon 
a  policy  of  segregation,  having  instituted  a  Japa- 
nese Y.  M.  C.  A.  as  an  auxiliary  to  the  Honolulu 
Y.  M.  C.  A. 

At  Los  Angeles,  a  Japanese  young  man  had  an  expe- 
rience even  more  humiliating  than  that  of  the  Honolulu 


CAN  WE  AMERICANIZE   THEM?  75 

Japanese.  A  graduate  of  the  University  of  Southern 
California  and  an  employe  of  an  American  bank,  he 
had  many  friends  among  Americans.  At  the  urgent  ad- 
vice of  his  American  friends,  who  were  members  of  the 
Los  Angeles  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  he  applied  for  membership  in 
the  association.  He  had  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  his 
application  would  meet  immediate  acceptance,  but  the 
secretary  demurred  and  hesitated  and  seemed  unwilling 
to  give  any  definite  answer.  The  Japanese,  not  knowing 
what  was  in  the  secretary's  mind,  requested  prompt  de- 
cision, whereupon  he  was  told  that  he  could  become  a 
member  if  he  would  accept  one  condition.  The  Japanese 
replied  he  would  if  the  condition  were  reasonable.  Then 
the  secretary  said  that  the  Japanese  could  enjoy  all  the 
privileges  enjoyed  by  other  members,  but  that  he  must 
refrain  from  using  the  swimming  pool !  The  young  man 
was  simply  dumfounded.  Did  the  secretary  mean  to 
intimate  that  the  Japanese  people  were  physically  un- 
clean or  that  they  were  liable  to  spread  disease?  That 
ended  the  negotiation.  The  Japanese  applicant,  who 
had  thought  that  his  race  was  noted  for  cleanly  habits, 
was  naturally  disgusted  and  indignant  with  what  he  con- 
sidered the  height  of  bigotry,  and  abandoned  all  hope  for 
doing  anything  for  or  with  American  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Associations. 

In  these  instances  the  issue  raised  was  a  purely  racial 
one,  for  the  applicants  were  men  of  impeccable  char- 
acter and  high  intelligence.  In  San  Francisco  it  is  much 
the  same  story. 

The  shock  which  the  Japanese  convert  to  Christianity 
experiences  in  such  circumstances  is  all  the  more  severe 
because  he  was  accustomed  to  see  the  picture  of  Chris- 
tendom painted  in  roseate  hues  at  the  hands  of  the 
evangelical  workers  who  revealed  Christianity  to  him. 


*7^  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

While  in  his  native  land  he  heard  a  great  deal  said  about 
Christian  love  and  brotherhood,  and  he  felt  justified  in  ex- 
pecting to  find  the  teachings  of  the  Great  Nazarene  lived 
up  to  at  least  by  Christian  workers  and  institutions,  if 
not  by  all  members  of  Christendom.  And  yet  here  he  is 
in  the  Christian  country  of  all  Christian  countries  unable 
to  enter  one  of  the  greatest  fraternal  organizations  to 
which  those  teachings  have  given  birth.  He  cannot  help 
wondering  if  he  would  not  have  been  much  happier  and 
much  better  oflf,  had  he  remained  what  his  religious 
teachers  from  America  reproachfully  called  a  heathen — 
a  disciple  of  Buddha,  a  devotee  of  Confucianism,  or  a 
believer  in  Shinto.  If  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  be  like  a  club, 
consisting  of  men  grouped  together  by  common  whims 
and  fancies,  no  one  is  justified  in  complaining  of  its 
exclusiveness.  Certainly  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  not  yet 
degenerated  into  such  an  organization. 

The  question  involved  is  a  vital  one  and  challenges  the 
soberest  consideration  on  the  part  of  all  public-spirited 
men  and  women,  and  especially  those  directly  interested 
in  foreign  missions.  For  the  policy  of  segregation  can- 
not but  militate  against  the  effective  propagation  of  the 
Gospel  not  only  among  the  Japanese  in  this  country, 
but  among  tens  of  millions  of  souls  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Pacific.  This  significant  fact  is  clearly  recognized 
by  the  Immigration  Commission  when  it  says  that  the 
establishment  on  the  Pacific  Coast  of  missions  exclu- 
sively for  Japanese  is  "  a  recognition  of  a  difference  be- 
tween them  and  other  races  and  a  condition  which  lessens 
their  value  as  an  assimilative  force." 

At  the  same  time,  the  good  work  accomplished  by  the 
Japanese  missions  cannot  be  too  highly  appreciated.  The 
Methodist  Church  alone  maintains  some  fifteen  churches 
for  the  Japanese  on  the  Pacific  Coast.    There  are  almost 


CAN   WE  AMERICANIZE   THEM?  yy 

as  many  Presbyterian  churches.  Primarily  established 
for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel,  these  churches  are 
also  schools  and  social  centres,  where  Japanese  young 
men  acquire  a  knowledge  of  English  as  well  as  American 
customs  and  ideas. 


IV 

CAN  WE  AMERICANIZE  THEM?— II 

EVEN  in  the  present  untoward  circumstances,  the 
Japanese  in  America  have  proved  themselves  sur- 
prisingly loyal  to  the  country  which  harbours 
them.  How  fond  they  are  of  this  great  country!  And 
how  proud!  Their  enthusiasm  is  almost  contagious. 
They  are  resolved  that  nobody  shall  speak  in  their  pres- 
ence disparagingly  of  the  United  States.  Now  and  then 
there  come  to  these  shores  Japanese  who  have  spent  a 
few  years  in  Germany  or  France  or  England  and  who 
are  naturally  inclined  to  belittle  America,  its  arts,  its 
literature,  its  universities,  its  cities,  and  even  its  charm- 
ing womankind.  Such  impudent  critics  had  better  be- 
ware, lest  their  compatriots  in  America  admonish  them 
rather  unceremoniously.  In  spite  of  all  the  inconven- 
iences and  disagreeable  experiences  that  annoy  them,  the 
Japanese  in  America,  especially  the  educated  class,  ap- 
preciate that  this  is  a  country  of  freedom  and  opportu- 
nity. They  breathe  the  atmosphere  of  freedom  and  they 
revel  in  it.  Here  is  a  country  which  is  singularly  free 
from  official  red-tape;  where  nobody  is  called  upon  to 
sacrifice  the  best  years  of  his  life  for  military  duties; 
where  officials  are  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term  the  serv- 
ants of  the  people;  where  social  caste  has  never  been 
established;  where  all  the  blessings  of  modern  civiliza- 
tion— schools,  libraries,  museums,  and  what  not — are 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  every  one.     After  all,  it  is  a 

78 


CAN   WE  AMERICANIZE   THEM?  79 

pretty  good  country,  this  great  Republic  of  brothers,  and 
the  Japanese  are  quick  to  appreciate  it.  When  they  are 
treated  more  kindly,  and  more  squarely,  and  more  in  ac- 
cord with  the  true  spirit  of  the  Republic,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  they  will  become  even  more  devoted  to  this 
country. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  subjects  for  the  students 
of  sociology  is  the  Japanese  children  bom  and  reared 
in  this  country.  These  children,  oblivious  of  their  own 
parentage,  disdainfully  call  the  newcomers  from  Japan 
"  Japs."  Surely  they  have  caught  the  Yankee  spirit ! 
Tell  them  that  they  are  themselves  Japanese,  and  they 
proudly  cock  their  heads  and  indignantly  swear  that  they 
are  not  Japs  but  'Mericans.  Their  parents,  too,  are 
proud  that  they  are  Americans  and  want  them  to  learn 
all  that  is  good  of  American  ideas  and  manners.  As 
they  grow  into  manhood  and  womanhood,  they  will  no 
doubt  strive  to  live  up  to  the  standards  of  living  which 
obtain  in  our  community.  Their  agile  minds  readily 
grasp  the  details  of  our  life,  and  they  become  teachers 
of  their  parents,  if  their  parents  were  not  fortunate 
enough  to  receive  the  blessings  of  modem  education. 

Miss  Katherine  M.  Ball,  for  fifteen  years  a  teacher  in 
public  schools  in  San  Francisco  and  at  present  Supervisor 
of  Art  of  that  city,  makes  interesting  observations,  com- 
paring the  peculiarities  of  Japanese  children  with  those 
of  Chinese.  "  The  Chinese,"  she  says,  "  although  living 
in  an  American  city,  still  perpetuate  their  own  national 
life;  hence  the  difference  between  the  native-bom  and 
foreign-born  Chinese  children  is  so  slight  that  it  is 
scarcely  perceptible.  Not  so  with  the  Japanese  who  live 
among  us.  They  strive  to  the  utmost  to  become  familiar 
with  Occidental  life  and  to  adopt  Occidental  customs. 
As  a  result,  the  art  work  of  those  Japanese  children  born 


8o  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

and  reared  in  this  country  is  similar  to  that  of  our  own 
children,  thereby  demonstrating  that  '  as  water  cannot 
rise  above  its  level,'  so  humanity  cannot  reflect  aught 
but  that  which  environs  it." 

A  striking  example  of  the  assimilability  of  the  Japa- 
nese is  found  in  those  Japanese  girls  born  and  educated 
in  Hawaii  and  teaching  public  schools  in  the  territory. 
Not  only  are  their  manners  and  speech  perfectly  Ameri- 
can, but  their  features  and  complexion  are  markedly  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  the  Japanese  girls  at  home.  Their 
vivacious  movement,  their  airy  manner,  their  charming 
speech  find  no  example  among  their  sisters  in  the  Mika- 
do's land.  Brought  up  in  a  congenial  atmosphere  in 
which  many  races  live  amicably  together,  these  Japanese 
girls  grew  up  with  little  knowledge  of  race  hatred,  and 
when  they  are  placed  upon  a  footing  of  equality  with 
their  American  sisters  by  the  official  recognition  of  their 
scholarly  attainment,  they  feel  that  their  efforts  are  not 
in  vain  and  are  encouraged  to  achieve  more  meritorious 
work.  It  imbues  their  naturally  modest  minds  with  self- 
confidence  and  self-respect,  qualities  essential  in  the  mak- 
ing of  good  citizens.  What  has  been  accomplished  in 
Hawaii  can  also  be  accomplished  on  the  continent  when 
we  are  purged  of  racial  prejudice  and  learn  to  deal  with 
the  Japanese  in  sympathy. 

One  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  Japanese  community  in 
America  is  the  schools  established  by  it  to  instruct  Japa- 
nese children  in  the  language,  history,  and  ethics  of  the 
Mikado's  Empire.  Almost  every  centre  of  Japanese 
population  on  the  Pacific  Coast  has  a  Japanese  school. 
On  the  entire  coast  region  from  Vancouver  to  Los 
Angeles  there  are  about  fifteen  of  such  schools,  all  es- 
tablished and  maintained  by  contributions  from  the  Japa- 
nese residents.    The  maintenance  of  such  educational  in- 


CAN   WE  AMERICANIZE   THEM?  8l 

stitutions  may  be  construed  as  a  proof  that  the  Japanese 
mean  to  perpetuate  in  our  midst  the  traditions  and  moral 
conceptions  of  their  native  country.  Before  I  made  per- 
sonal study  of  these  schools  I  was  myself  one  of  those 
who  urged  their  summary  abolition.  My  recent  visit 
in  Hawaii  and  on  the  Pacific  Coast  persuaded  me  to 
modify  my  views. 

The  Japanese  schools,  it  must  be  remembered,  are  not 
substitutes  for,  but  supplements  to,  our  public  schools. 
The  Japanese  children  go  to  Japanese  schools  after  their 
regular  hours  in  the  public  schools.  The  session  lasts 
two  or  three  hours  and  the  curriculum  consists  of 
caligraphy,  reading,  and  composition  in  Japanese.  To 
these  Japanese  history,  geography,  and  ethics  are  added 
for  older  children.  In  the  classrooms  one  finds  por- 
traits of  Washington  and  Lincoln  hung  side  by  side  with 
the  portraits  of  the  reigning  Mikado  and  Admiral  Togo 
or  General  Nogi.  There  is  indeed  something  touching 
in  the  scene  presented  by  the  Stars  and  Stripes  infold- 
ing the  Rising  Sun,  under  which  the  children  sing  the 
gentle  air  of  the  Mikado's  Empire  and  the  militant  song 
of  the  American  Republic.  It  is  cosmopolitanism,  not 
narrow  nationalism,  which  is  fostered  in  these  schools. 
In  the  public  schools  the  Japanese  children  are  taught 
the  doctrine  of  humanity  and  freedom  embodied  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  in  the  Japanese  schools 
they  are  enjoined  to  respect  the  spirit  of  the  Mikado's 
Rescript  on  education.  That  rescript,  issued  in  October, 
1890,  runs  thus : 

"  Ye,  Our  Subjects,  be  filial  to  your  parents,  aflFection- 
ate  to  your  brothers  and  sisters ;  as  husbands  and  wives 
be  harmonious,  as  friends,  true ;  bear  yourselves  in  mod- 
esty and  moderation;  extend  your  benevolence  to  all; 
pursue  learning  and  cultivate  arts,  and  thereby  develop 


82  ASIA   AT   THE   DOOR 

intellectual  faculties  and  perfect  moral  powers ;  further- 
more, advance  public  good  and  promote  common  inter- 
ests; always  respect  the  constitution  and  observe  the 
laws;  should  emergency  arise,  oifer  yourselves  courage- 
ously to  the  State;  and  thus  guard  and  maintain  the 
prosperity  of  Our  Imperial  Throne  coeval  with  heaven 
and  earth." 

With  the  substitution  of  "  citizens  "  and  "  Republic  " 
for  "  Our  Subjects  "  and  "  Our  Imperial  Throne,"  re- 
spectively, the  rescript  might  well  be  read  in  our  own 
public  schools.  In  reading  the  rescript  in  the  classroom, 
teachers  in  the  Japanese  schools  in  this  country  usually 
interpret  its  meaning  so  as  to  suit  the  circumstances 
under  which  their  pupils  are  placed.  Living  in  America, 
they  explain,  the  children  must  "  guard  and  maintain 
the  prosperity "  of  the  Republic.  As  for  the  rest  of 
the  rescript,  every  word  contained  therein  rings  with 
eternal  truth,  which  knows  neither  East  nor  West,  race 
nor  nationality.  Our  children,  reared  in  the  atmosphere 
of  independence  and  freedom,  are  sometimes  inclined  to 
forget  to  "  honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother."  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Japanese  are  taught  to  sacrifice  every- 
thing upon  the  altar  of  filial  piety  and  of  the  State.  The 
East  developed  ultra-communalism,  the  West  ultra- 
individualism.  Perhaps,  by  modifying  the  ideas  of  each 
with  those  of  the  other,  both  the  East  and  the  West  may 
find  the  golden  mean. 

In  rare  instances  Japanese  teachers  are  inclined  to 
inspire  in  the  hearts  of  their  youthful  pupils  such  senti- 
ment and  creeds  as  would  hinder  their  assimilation  with 
American  ideas  and  traditions.  No  word  can  be  too 
strong  in  condemning  such  perverted  methods.  Yet  in 
the  overwhelming  majority  of  cases  I  find  the  teachers 
judiciously  liberal,  and  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  the 


CAN  WE  AMERICANIZE  THEM?  83 

good  example  set  by  the  majority  will  soon  be  followed 
by  their  few  conservative  colleagues. 

There  is  another  strong  reason  for  justifying  the  Japa- 
nese schools.  The  American  text-books  are  too  sparing 
in  dealing  with  the  history  and  geography  of  the  Orient. 
Worse  still,  they  often  do  Oriental  nations  gross  injus- 
tice by  disseminating  mistaken  ideas.  What  one  learns 
in  his  childhood  in  the  nursery,  in  the  kindergarten,  and 
in  the  primary  school,  influences  and  fashions  his  thought 
throughout  his  life.  Most  Americans  judge  and  estimate 
Japan  from  what  their  **  schoolma'ams  '*  told  them  twenty 
or  thirty  years  ago.  American  writers  of  text-books  are 
not  entirely  free  from  the  notion  that  the  whole  Orient 
is  peopled  by  inferior  or  backward  races.  The  Japanese 
children,  more  or  less  despised  by  their  schoolmates  and 
reading  in  the  newspapers  foul  epithets  and  vituperations 
heaped  upon  the  Japanese,  have  no  favourable  idea  of 
the  race  to  which  they  belong.  And  when  they  see  even 
their  text-books  speak  slightingly  of  the  Japanese,  they 
see  no  reason  why  they  should  thank  the  fate  which 
made  them  Japanese.  Such  depressing  feeling  seldom  de- 
velops good  qualities.  It  makes  the  child  timid  and  often 
suspicious. 

To  offset  such  unfortunate  influence,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  Japanese  children  should  be  given  correct  knowl- 
edge of  Japan  and  the  Japanese.  They  must  know  that 
Japan  has  had  an  intensely  cultivated  civilization  of  her 
own,  that  her  people  are  possessed  of  moral  fibre  as 
strong  as  that  of  any  other  people,  that  her  history  is 
replete  with  stories  of  noble  deeds  and  achievements. 
Such  knowledge  makes  them  confident  of  the  potentiali- 
ties of  their  race,  and  teaches  them  to  respect  not  only 
themselves,  but  their  parents  and  all  men  of  their  kin. 
What  is  equally  important,  it  affords  them  a  broader  view 


84  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

of  the  world  and  divests  them  of  narrow  prejudice.  No 
man  is  worth  while  who  does  not  respect  himself  and 
the  race  of  which  he  is  a  member.  Neither  is  he  a  de- 
sirable member  of  the  democracy  who  cherishes  preju- 
dice against  other  races.  To  prevent  the  injection  of 
such  undesirable  elements  into  the  American  population 
is  the  chief  mission  of  the  Japanese  schools  in  America. 

In  the  assimilation  of  aliens,  public  schools  play  the 
most  important  part.  They  may  well  be  called  the  great 
melting  pot  of  the  races.  It  is  fortunate  that  in  no 
State  other  than  California  any  attempt  has  ever 
been  made  to  segregate  Japanese  school  children  from 
American  children.  Even  in  California  it  is  only  poli- 
ticians with  their  eyes  upon  the  labour  vote  who  exploit 
the  segregation  question.  The  teachers  and  superintend- 
ents of  schools  never  recognize  the  necessity  of  segrega- 
tion. And  why  should  they?  When  a  certain  publicist 
of  California  delivered  in  San  Francisco  a  speech  in 
favour  of  segregation,  a  California  woman,  for  eleven 
years  a  teacher  in  public  schools  in  her  State,  wrote  a 
letter  to  the  gentleman.  In  part  the  letter  reads :  "  It 
shows  you  are  totally  ignorant  of  Japanese  life  and  char- 
acter. The  Japanese  children  are  as  clean,  bright,  and 
wholesome  as  our  average  American  child,  and  much 
cleaner-minded,  more  studious,  and  obedient.  It  is  snob- 
bery, pure  and  simple,  and  un-American  race-hatred  that 
would  forbid  the  Japanese  child  the  training  of  our 
schools.'* 

I  have  quoted  elsewhere  in  this  chapter  the  statement 
of  Miss  Katherine  M.  Ball,  superintendent  of  art  in 
the  public  schools  of  San  Francisco.  When  in  1906 
San  Francisco  tried  to  segregate  Japanese  children,  the 
principal  of  a  public  school  in  that  city  wrote  thus : 

"  The  statement  that  the  influence  of  the  Japanese  in 


CAN   WE  AMERICANIZE   THEM?  85 

our  schools  has  had  a  tendency  towards  immorality  is 
false  and  absolutely  without  foundation.  From  all  I 
have  heard  in  conference  with  other  school  men,  as  well 
as  from  my  own  continuous  and  careful  observation, 
there  has  never  been  the  slightest  cause  for  a  shadow  of 
suspicion  affecting  the  conduct  of  one  of  these  Japanese 
pupils.  On  the  contrary,  I  have  found  that  they  have 
furnished  examples  of  industry,  patience,  unobtrusive- 
ness,  obedience,  and  honesty  in  their  work  which  have 
greatly  helped  many  efficient  teachers  to  create  the  proper 
moral  atmosphere  for  their  classrooms." 

Such,  in  brief,  are  the  testimonials  of  most  school 
teachers  in  California.  The  agitation  for  the  segrega- 
tion of  Japanese  children  is  nothing  but  a  political 
game.  Let  those  who  scandalize  Japanese  pupils  with 
invented  tales  of  immorality  read  a  recent  report  of  the 
Chicago  Law  and  Order  League,  wherein  it  is  stated 
that,  in  the  twenty-four  months  covered  by  the  investi- 
gation, 600  school  children  occupied  wards  in  the  county 
hospital  devoted  to  diseases  resulting  from  immorality. 
As  long  as  the  morals  of  our  own  children  are  in  such 
deplorable  state,  we  have  no  right  to  throw  stones  at 
those  children  of  foreign  birth  or  parentage  who  are  much 
purer-minded. 

Aliens,  in  order  to  Assimilate  American  ideas  and  man- 
ners, must  first  acquire  a  fair  knowledge  of  English. 
How  does  the  Japanese  compare  with  other  immigrants 
in  this  particular  respect  ?  "  The  difference,"  we  learn 
from  the  Reports  of  the  Immigration  Commission,  "  be- 
tween the  Japanese  and  some  of  the  other  races  with 
regard  to  the  learning  of  English  is  so  great  as  to  justify 
the  statement  that  the  Japanese  have  acquired  the  use 
of  the  English  language  more  quickly  and  more  eagerly 
than  the  Chinese,  Mexicans,  and  some  of  the  European 


86  ASIA   AT   THE  DOOR 

races."  This  eagerness  and  ability  to  acquire  English 
is  shown  not  only  by  the  better  or  educated  class  of  Japa- 
nese immigrants,  but  also  by  the  labourers.  To  quote 
the  reports  once  more : 

"  When  compared  with  other  races  employed  in  similar 
kinds  of  labour  in  the  same  industry,  the  Japanese  show 
relatively  rapid  progress  in  acquiring  a  speaking  knowl- 
edge of  English.  Their  advance  has  been  much  more 
rapid  than  that  of  the  Chinese  and  the  Mexicans,  who 
show  little  interest  in  American  institutions.  During 
their  first  five-years*  residence  a  greater  proportion  have 
learned  to  speak  English  than  most  of  the  South  and 
East  European  races.  However,  among  those  who  have 
been  in  this  country  for  a  longer  period  of  time,  a  larger 
proportion  of  the  South  and  East  Europeans  than  of 
the  Japanese  speak  English.  The  progress  of  the  Japa- 
nese is  due  to  their  great  eagerness  to  learn  which  has 
overcome  more  obstacles  than  have  been  encountered  by 
most  of  the  other  races,  obstacles  of  race  prejudice,  of 
segregation,  and  of  wide  difference  in  language.  The 
Chinese  are  self-satisfied  and  indifferent  in  this  regard, 
whereas  the  Japanese  are  eager  to  learn  the  English 
language  or  anything  pertaining  to  Western  civilization." 

Turning  to  the  census  of  1910,  we  find  a  very  small 
rate  of  illiteracy  among  the  Japanese.  Take,  for  exam- 
ple, the  case  of  California,  where  the  majority  of  the 
Japanese  in  this  country  are  found.  The  rate  of  il- 
literacy among  the  Japanese  was  8.6  per  cent,  as  against 
10  per  cent,  of  foreign-born  whites,  including  Germans, 
English,  French,  Irish,  Canadians,  Swedes,  as  well  as 
South  and  Eastern  Europeans.  The  rate  of  illiteracy 
among  the  Chinese  was  15.5  per  cent,  and  among  the  In- 
dians 49  per  cent. 

In  the  light  of  what  has  been  said  in  this  and  the  pre- 


CAN  WE  AMERICANIZE   THEM?  ^ 

ceding  chapters,  and  will  be  said  in  the  chapters  follow 
ing,  it  seems  fair  that  we  should  confer  upon  the  Japanese 
the  privilege  of  naturalization.  I  have  said  that  the  natu- 
ralization law,  if  inadequate  to  bar  out  undesirable  aliens, 
should  be  revised.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Doremus  Scudder,  one 
of  the  most  influential  moral  leaders  in  Hawaii,  seems 
to  entertain  the  same  opinion,  when  he  says : 

"If  Congress  would  place  the  Asiatic  on  a  level  with 
all  other  races  in  eligibility  for  naturalization,  follow  this 
up  by  guarding  American  citizenship  by  requiring  the 
passage  of  a  stiff  civil-service  examination  in  the  English 
language  upon  American  civics  by  every  candidate  for 
the  franchise,  and  then  enact  a  law  admitting  only  a 
definite  number  of  labouring  men  annually  from  each 
foreign  country,  we  should  get  no  more  than  we  could 
assimilate  healthfully  and  those  aliens  admitted  to  our 
citizenship  would  comprise  the  indomitable  spirits  so 
much  needed  to  recruit  our  population.  Those  who 
know  the  Asiatic  and  compare  him  with  the  Southern 
European,  the  Russian  Jew,  the  Armenian,  and  Syrian, 
have  no  patience  with  the  oft-repeated  nonsense  that  the 
Asiatic  cannot  and  will  not  assimilate.  The  truth  is  that 
he  does  assimilate  with  great  rapidity,  that  if  admitted 
to  our  citizenship  he  would  make  a  thoroughly  charac- 
teristic and  devoted  American,  and  that  in  the  event  of 
conflict  with  his  former  homeland  his  loyalty  to  his 
adopted  nation  would  be  unquestioned." 

Even  the  existing  law,  if  strictly  enforced,  will  be  able 
to  exclude  from  citizenship  a  very  large  number  of  un- 
desirable aliens  who  are  morally  and  intellectually  unfit 
to  become  citizens.  The  new  naturalization  law  which 
went  into  effect  September,  1907,  is  doubtless  an  improve- 
ment upon  the  old  law,  its  provisions  being  couched  in 
such  elastic  terms  as  would  enable  the  naturalization  au- 


8^  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

.horities  to  prevent  the  admission  into  citizenship  of  un- 
desirable aliens. 

The  law  provides  that  no  alien  unable  to  speak  Eng- 
lish shall  be  naturalized;  that  an  alien  applying  for  a 
naturalization  certificate  must  prove  that  he  has  resided 
continuously  within  the  United  States  for  five  years  at 
least  and  within  the  State  or  Territory  where  his  cer- 
tificate is  to  be  obtained  one  year  at  least;  that  he  must 
also  make  it  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  authorities 
that  during  his  residence  in  this  country  he  has  behaved 
as  a  man  of  good  moral  character,  attached  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  constitution  of  the  commonwealth,  and  well 
disposed  to  the  good  order  and  happiness  of  the  Re- 
public, which  statement  must  be  verified  by  the  affi- 
davits of  at  least  two  credible  witnesses  who  are  Ameri- 
can citizens. 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  is  much  room  for  the  authori- 
ties to  employ  their  own  discretion  in  their  efforts  to 
maintain  the  moral  and  intellectual  standards  of  the 
American  nation  by  preventing  the  naturalization  of  un- 
desirable aliens.  The  educational  test,  for  instance,  may 
be  so  employed  as  to  bar  out  many  Japanese,  for  it  rests 
with  the  authorities  to  decide  how  well  an  alien  must 
be  able  to  speak  English  to  be  admitted  as  a  citizen. 

Again  the  moral  test  is  as  flexible  as  the  educational 
test.  The  court  reserves  the  power  to  withhold  the  natu- 
ralization certificate  until  it  is  satisfied  that  the  state- 
ment made  by  the  candidate  for  citizenship  as  to  his  moral 
character  is  genuine  and  sincere;  in  fine,  it  entirely  de- 
pends upon  the  discretion  of  the  court  whether  or  not 
an  alien  shall  be  regarded  as  morally  wholesome.  In  the 
face  of  these  provisions,  the  conclusion  seems  natural 
that,  in  the  event  of  the  right  of  naturalization  being 
extended  to  the  Japanese,  there  will  be  no  danger  of  the 


CAN   WE  AMERICANIZE   THEM?  89 

United  States  becoming  infested  by  the  undesirable 
classes  of  Japanese. 

Professor  Jenks,  in  his  book,  "  The  Immigration  Prob- 
lem," justly  credits  the  Japanese  with  "  considerable  ca- 
pacity for  assimilation,"  but  adds  that  "  effort  is  made 
[on  the  Pacific  Coast]  to  hold  them  [Japanese]  apart 
as  a  separate  race,  even  when  they  themselves  appar- 
ently manifest  a  strong  desire  for  assimilation."  There- 
fore, he  concludes,  it  is  best  and  necessary  to  exclude 
the  Japanese.  In  other  words,  race  prejudice  is  a  thing 
which  should  be  preserved. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  contend  that  race  bias  is  a  thing 
which  should  be  removed,  not  by  pressure  but  by  force 
of  sympathy  and  enlightenment.  I  know  but  little  of 
American  history  and  ideals,  much  less  have  I  been  able 
to  imbibe  the  American  spirit.  Yet  I  seem  not  entirely 
wrong  in  believing  that  race  prejudice  is  incompatible 
with  the  American  spirit — the  spirit,  not  of  hair-splitting 
lawyers  who  are  permitted  to  masquerade  as  statesmen, 
but  of  the  men  who  penned  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence and  who  drafted  the  Constitution  of  this  unique 
Republic.  There  are  millions  of  Americans  who  still 
remain  true  to  the  ideals  of  the  sires  from  whose  loins 
they  have  sprung.  The  Goddess  of  Liberty  may  sink  in 
the  bottom  of  the  New  York  Harbour,  but  the  light  of 
freedom  and  humanity  which  made  America  what  it  is 
shall  not  die,  and  so  long  as  it  continues  to  shed  its  rays, 
however  faint,  we  shall  continue  to  hope  that  America 
will  some  day  deal  out  to  the  Japanese  a  full  measure  of 
justice. 


THEIR  HUMBLE  ACHIEVEMENTS 

OF  all  foreign  peoples  living  under  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  the  Japanese  are  perhaps  the  youngest. 
There  are  only  a  small  number  of  those  Japanese 
residents  whose  children  have  reached  maturity.  Most 
Japanese  children  born  in  this  country  are  yet  in  pri- 
mary schools  or  kindergartens.  By  the  time  the  first  gen- 
eration passes  over  to  the  unknown  shores,  to  be  suc- 
ceeded by  the  second,  the  Japanese  community  in  Amer- 
ica will  have  been  able  to  record  some  achievements 
which  may  do  credit  to  the  country  whose  protection  it 
enjoys.  Meanwhile,  we  may  describe  a  few  things  which 
seem  not  altogether  unworthy  of  notice. 

Attention  is  first  called  to  the  discovery  by  Dr.  Jokichi 
Takamine,  of  New  York,  of  a  haemostatic  agent  called 
Adrenalin.  The  physiological  activity  of  adrenalin  iso- 
lated by  Dr.  Takamine  is  astoundingly  strong.  A  frac- 
tion of  one  drop  of  aqueous  solution  of  adrenalin  or  its 
salt  in  strength  of  1 150,000  blanches  the  normal  con- 
junctiva within  one  minute.  Of  all  the  haemostatic  agents 
yet  known  it  is  the  strongest.  The  intravenous  injection 
of  adrenalin  produces  a  powerful  action  upon  the  mus- 
cular system  in  general,  but  especially  upon  the  muscular 
wall  of  the  blood  vessels  and  the  muscular  wall  of  the 
heart,  resulting  in  an  enormous  rise  of  blood  pressure. 
The  result  of  three  intravenous  injections  of  i  c.  c.  of  the 
solution  of  adrenalin  chloride  of  i :  100,000  into  a  dog 

90 


THEIR   HUMBLE  ACHIEVEMENTS  91 

weighing  8  kilograms  raised  the  blood  pressure  corre- 
sponding to  30  millimetres  of  mercury. 

The  therapeutic  applications  of  adrenalin  are  already 
numerous,  while  new  uses  for  it  are  constantly  found 
by  specialists.  Non-irritating,  non-poisonous,  non- 
cumulative,  and  without  injurious  properties,  adrenalin 
is  useful  in  all  forms  of  inflammation  and  is  the  stron- 
gest stimulant  of  the  heart.  It  has  been  used  with  good 
results  as  an  antidote  in  morphine  and  opium  poisoning, 
in  circulatory  failure,  in  the  prevention  of  collapse 
in  anaesthesia,  and  in  allied  conditions.  To  prevent 
bleeding  in  surgical  operations,  00  better  haemo- 
static agent  than  adrenalin  has  been  found.  It  has 
also  given  good  results  in  some  cases  of  deafness,  hay 
fever,  nasal  haemorrhage,  and  various  forms  of  heart 
disease. 

Adrenalin  is  prepared  by  isolating  the  active  principle 
of  the  suprarenal  glands.  Before  the  discovery  of  adrena- 
lin, many  scholars  of  Europe  and  America  endeavoured 
to  discover  a  similar  substance.  It  was  forty-six  years 
ago  that  Addison  first  observed  the  certain  changes  of 
the  suprarenal  glands  and  their  relations  to  the  disease 
now  bearing  his  name.  Oliver  and  Schafer's  work  on 
the  physiological  action  of  the  glandular  extract  was  soon 
followed  by  those  of  Scymonowicz,  Cybulski,  and  later 
by  many  others.  Thus  the  suprarenal  therapy  became 
not  only  a  subject  of  scientific  interest,  but  was  found 
invaluable  in  various  branches  of  medical  practice.  The 
marvellous  therapeutic  value  of  the  suprarenal  extract  was 
established  and  proved  beyond  all  doubt.  And,  as  its  use 
increased,  a  desire  to  obtain  its  active  ingredient  in  pure 
state  was  generally  felt  by  medical  practitioners.  This 
need  was  felt  all  the  more  keenly  because  the  suprarenal 
extract,  if  not  pure,  is  prone  to  deteriorate  very  rapidly. 


92  ASl\  AT  THE  DOOR 

thus  requiring  the  preparation  of  fresh  extract  for 
each  use. 

Before  Dr.  Takamine  many  able  chemists  devoted  their 
energies  to  the  isolation  of  the  active  principle  of  the 
suprarenal  glands,  resulting  in  J.  J.  Abel's  discovery  of 
epinephrin  and  Otto  Von  Furth's  discovery  of  supra- 
renin.  But  neither  of  these  authors  succeeded  in  secur- 
ing the  active  ingredient  in  pure,  stable,  definite  forms, 
and  it  remained  for  Dr.  Takamine  to  attain  the  end  long 
coveted  by  chemists  and  physicians  throughout  the  world. 

Another  creation  of  Dr.  Takamine  is  called  the  Taka- 
Diastase,  now  extensively  used  for  amylaceous  dyspep- 
sia. This  medical  matter  is  the  result  of  an  ingenious 
utilization  of  microbes.  The  mere  mention  of  the  word 
microbe  or  bacterium  is  enough  to  horrify  the  laymen, 
yet  the  scientists  tell  us  that  no  human  being  can  exist 
without  bacteria.  The  fact  is  that  there  are  two  kinds 
of  microbes,  one  useful,  the  other  harmful.  It  is  the 
useful  kind  of  bacteria  that  Dr.  Takamine  has  captured 
and  utilized  for  the  promotion  of  human  well-being. 

The  process  of  creating  this  diastase  is  described  by 
Dr.  Takamine  as  follows :  "  The  bran  of  wheat  is  well 
fertilized  by  steam ;  on  to  that  spores  of  such  fungus  are 
sprinkled,  and  are  allowed  to  grow  in  an  incubator,  at  a 
proper  temperature  and  humidity.  In  the  course  of  forty- 
eight  hours  the  bran  will  be  covered  with  a  dense  growth 
of  this  microscopical  plant,  and  the  mass  will  be  found 
to  be  rich  in  diastase,  from  which  it  is  extracted  by  per- 
colation with  water.  The  diastase  dissolved  is  now  pre- 
cipitated by  the  addition  of  strong  alcohol,  thus  sepa- 
rating it  from  other  impurities  that  may  exist  in  the 
extract.  The  precipitate  is  now  pressed  and  dried  and 
constitutes  Taka-Diastase.  It  has  the  remarkable  di- 
astasic  power  of  converting  a  hundred  times  its  own 


THEIR   HUMBLE   ACHIEVEMENTS  93 

weight  of  starch  in  ten  minutes  to  a  proper  temperature 
and  condition." 

Considering  that  at  least  two-thirds  of  our  daily  food 
consist  of  starchy  material,  and  that  more  than  two-thirds 
of  the  cases  of  indigestion  are  caused  by  the  imperfect 
digestion  of  starchy  food,  the  invention  of  Taka-Diastase 
is  a  boon  to  humanity.  This  diastasic  substance  is  espe- 
cially valuable  in  that  it  supplies  the  deficiency  of  the 
ptyalin  of  saliva.  While  the  pepsin-creating  organs  in 
the  human  body  are  comparatively  well  protected  in  the 
system,  the  salivary  glands  are  more  exposed  to  abuse. 
No  other  medical  preparation  is  more  efficient  than  Taka- 
Diastase  in  counteracting  this  abuse  of  salivary  glands. 
Because  of  its  stability,  Taka-Diastase  is  far  more  useful 
than  other  diastasic  preparations  so  far  obtained  from 
other  sources. 

In  his  laboratory  in  New  York,  Dr.  Takamine,  with 
several  assistants,  is  still  engaged  in  new  researches.  In 
private  life  no  one  is  happier  than  he.  Both  to  Ameri- 
cans and  Japanese  his  home  is  synonymous  with  hospi- 
tality. Mrs.  Takamine,  a  cultured  American  woman,  as 
well  understands  the  Orient  as  she  is  at  home  with  the 
Occident.  Their  children — bright,  healthy,  handsome — 
are  typical  of  children  born  to  American- Japanese  fami- 
lies of  the  better  class.  Their  oldest  son,  a  graduate  of 
Yale,  is  now  in  Germany  continuing  scientific  studies. 

No  less  important  a  contribution  to  science  than  that 
made  by  Dr.  Takamine  is  the  isolation  by  Dr.  H.  Noguchi, 
of  the  Rockefeller  Institute,  of  Spirochccta  pallida  in  pure 
state.  Spirochceta  pallida,  as  is  well  known,  is  the  most 
effective  causative  agent  of  syphilis.  The  cultivation  of 
this  organism  in  pure  state  has  been  sought  by  many  sci- 
entists, as  it  affords  a  great  advantage  in  the  treatment 
of  syphilis.    Up  to  the  present  time  three  investigators 


94  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

claim  to  have  succeeded  in  cultivating  Spirochccta  pallida 
in  pure  state — Muhlens,  W.  H.  Hoffmann,  and  Dr. 
Noguchi.  Muhlens  announced  in  1909  and  19 10  his 
success  in  obtaining  one  strain  of  the  pallida  in  pure 
culture.  Hoffmann,  who  assisted  Muhlens,  reported  in 
191 1  that  he  was  able  to  isolate  five  more  strains  of  the 
same  organism  as  was  obtained  by  Muhlens.  Dr.  No- 
guchi contends  that  the  spirochetes  cultivated  by  these 
two  authorities  are  not  in  reality  the  pallida,  but  what 
is  known  as  Spirochceta  microdentium.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Japanese  scientist  succeeded  in  isolating  six 
different  strains  of  Spirochceta  pallida  from  the  orchitis 
material  of  rabbits,  and  also  seven  strains  directly  from 
chancres,  condylomata,  and  skin  papules  of  human  sub- 
jects. In  his  Fenger-Senn  memorial  address  before  the 
Chicago  Medical  Society,  Dr.  Noguchi  explained  how  he 
isolated  Spirochceta  pallida.  In  the  course  of  the  address 
he  said : 

"  Syphilis  is  a  chronic  infectious  disease,  and  presents 
many  difficulties  in  diagnosis.  During  its  very  early 
period,  it  is  principally  a  disease  of  dermatologic,  genito- 
urinary, and  laryngologic  fields.  There  the  clinical  ap- 
pearance, demonstration  of  Spirochceta  pallida  and  the 
Wassermann  reaction  usually  settle  the  diagnosis.  On 
the  other  hand,  as  soon  as  it  enters  its  chronic  course,  it 
manifests  most  diverse  and  often  obscure  symptoms. 
The  direct  demonstration  of  pallida  becomes  laborious  and 
often  impossible,  the  serum  reaction  less  frequent,  and 
the  clinical  aspect  less  decisive.  A  great  many  cases  of 
the  disease  at  this  period  now  pass  into  the  fields  of  medi- 
cine, surgery,  ophthalmology,  neurology,  and  psychiatry. 
Here  the  detection  of  the  allergic  condition  will  doubt- 
less aid  in  deciding  the  diagnosis  of  dubious  cases. 

*'  Since  the  discovery  of  Spirochceta  pallida,  various 


THEIR   HUMBLE   ACHIEVEMENTS  95 

investigators  have  attempted  to  introduce  a  specific  cuta- 
neous reaction  based  on  the  allergy  in  syphilis.  Thus, 
Meirosky,  Wolff-Eisner,  Munk,  Tedeschi,  Nobl,  Ciuffo, 
Nicolas-Tavre-Gauthier,  Neisser-Bruck,  Jadassohn,  and 
Fontana  carried  out  a  series  of  experiments  by  means  of 
an  extract  obtained  from  syphilitic  tissues  containing  the 
pallida.  They  were  much  handicapped  by  not  having  a 
pure  pallida  extract  for  such  purposes.  One  can  imagine 
the  way  in  which  an  extract  containing  various  bacteria 
besides  the  pallida  would  react.  With  such  an  impure 
antigen,  some  of  them  obtained  quite  favourable  results, 
while  others  were  unable  to  come  to  any  conclusive 
result. 

"  After  obtaining  the  pure  cultures  of  several  strains 
of  pallida  in  1910,  I  commenced  my  experimental  work 
on  rabbits  with  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  if  these  ani- 
mals could  not  be  made  allergic  to  the  extract  of  pure 
pallida.  By  repeated  intravenous  injections  of  the  pal- 
lida antigen  into  the  rabbits  for  several  months  and  then 
giving  them  a  month's  rest,  I  tested  them  with  the  ex- 
tract, which  was  termed  luetin,  given  intradermally.  A 
proper  control  was  provided.  They  all  reacted  to  the 
luetin  with  marked  inflammation,  some  leading  to  pustu- 
lation  in  several  days.  No  normal  rabbit  reacted.  While 
I  was  still  working  with  the  animals,  Professor  Welch 
suggested  that  I  make  the  test  on  human  subjects. 
Through  his  encouragement  I  commenced  the  work  at 
once  at  different  dispensaries  and  hospitals." 

Another  important  discovery  by  Dr.  Noguchi  is  the 
culture  in  vitro,  the  four  blood  spirochaetae,  called  Spiro- 
chccta  duttoni,  Spirochceta  kochi,  Spirochcota  ohermeiri, 
and  Spirochceta  novyi.  These  four  distinct  species  of 
spirochaetae  are  responsible  for  the  disease  known  as  re- 
lapsing fever.     The  organisms  in  the  blood  of  patients 


90  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

suffering  from  the  relapsing  fever  of  Europe  were  first 
discovered  by  Obermeier  in  1873 ;  hence  the  name  Spiro- 
chceta  obermeiri.  In  1904  Button  and  T6dd,  and  Ross 
and  Milne  simultaneously  discovered  another  variety  of 
spirochseta  in  the  blood  of  those  who  contracted  the  dis- 
ease known  as  African  tick  fever.  This  species  is  called 
Spirochceta  duttoni.  In  1905  Koch  discovered  the  third 
species  which  is  known  as  Spirochceta  kochi.  The  fourth 
species,  Spirochceta  novyi,  was  found  by  Norris  in  1906 
in  New  York  in  the  blood  of  a  patient  with  relapsing 
fever.  But  none  of  these  scientists  succeeded  in  obtain- 
ing in  vitro  a,  culture  of  any  of  these  spirochaetae.  Upon 
Dr.  Noguchi  falls  the  honour  of  having  discovered  the 
method  of  growing  these  organisms  for  medical  purposes. 

There  are  several  other  discoveries  which  must  be  re- 
corded to  Dr.  Noguchi's  credit.  He  is  the  first  scientist 
who  pictured  the  germ  of  syphilis.  With  Dr.  Flexner, 
he  also  discovered  the  germ  of  infantile  paralysis.  The 
improvement  by  him  of  the  Wassermann  reaction  is  one 
of  the  most  important  achievements  of  the  age. 

Not  content  with  the  study  of  human  diseases,  Dr. 
Noguchi  carried  his  investigation  into  the  world  of  ven- 
omous reptiles.  Indeed,  he  is  one  of  the  greatest  authori- 
ties on  snake  venom.  While  in  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, he  began  to  take  interest  in  the  snake.  Dr. 
S.  Weir  Mitchell  was  then  studying  snake  venom  in  the 
light  of  the  modern  conception  of  the  action  of  toxins. 
Noguchi  became  Dr.  Mitchell's  pupil,  and  studied  the 
subject  with  such  ardour  that  for  a  time  he  virtually 
lived  with  the  snakes.  Before  Dr.  Noguchi,  the  French 
scientist,  Calmette,  was  the  greatest  authority  on  snake 
venom.  To-day  Noguchi  stands  foremost  in  the  list 
of  investigators  in  this  peculiar  field  of  research.  If  you 
call  on  him  at  the  Rockefeller  Institute,  he  will  usher 


THEIR   HUMBLE   ACHIEVEMENTS  97 

you  into  a  little  room  literally  lined  with  dried  and  bot- 
tled snake  venom. 

Most  of  us  have  heard  of  Dr.  Simon  Flexner  or  of  Dr. 
Alexis  Carrel,  the  two  greatest  authorities  on  medical 
science.  The  former  is  the  head  of  the  Rockefeller  In- 
stitute, the  latter  the  recipient  of  the  Nobel  prize  for 
1912.  Well,  Dr.  Hideyo  Noguchi  is  recognized  as  the 
equal  in  scientific  attainment  of  either  Flexner  or  Car- 
rel. And  yet  who  ever  heard  anything  about  this  Japa- 
nese scientist?  It  is  no  wonder.  He  shuts  himself  up  in 
his  laboratory  in  the  Rockefeller  Institute  year  in,  year 
out,  and  never  cares  to  see  anybody  or  to  talk  with  any- 
body. Even  in  the  Japanese  community  in  New  York 
he  is  a  stranger.  As  a  writer  in  the  Chicago  Daily  News 
says,  "  he  is  a  quiet,  reserved,  matter-of-fact  sort  of  4nan, 
who  regards  newspaper  attention  as  a  thing  to  be  avoided 
when  possible,  and  to  be  deprecated  when  it  cannot  be 
avoided."  Yet  this  modest,  obscure  man  may  one  of 
these  days  win  the  Nobel  prize.  His  name  is  bound  to 
become  immortal. 

Dr.  Noguchi  owes  Dr.  Flexner  a  debt  of  gratitude  for 
his  achievements  in  America.  It  was  Dr.  Flexner  who 
discovered  him.  When  Flexner  was  sent  to  the  Philip- 
pines to  investigate  the  causes  of  the  epidemic  of  dysentery 
then  harassing  the  American  army,  he  stopped  in  Japan 
to  consult  with  such  foremost  bacteriologists  as  Dr. 
Kitasato.  Noguchi,  then  a  very  young  man,  was  intro- 
duced to  Dr.  Flexner  by  Kitasato.  The  American  scien- 
tist took  an  interest  in  Noguchi  and  asked  him  to  accom- 
pany him  to  the  Philippines  as  his  assistant.  While  in 
the  Philippines  the  young  Japanese  rendered  Dr.  Flexner 
a  valuable  service,  assisting  in  the  investigations  which 
resulted  in  the  discovery  of  the  bacillus  of  dysentery. 
After  their  work  in  the  islands  was  completed,  Noguchi 


98  ASIA   AT   THE   DOOR 

came  to  America  with  Dr.  Flexner  and  became  his  as- 
sistant in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  When  Flex- 
ner became  the  head  of  the  Rockefeller  Institute,  Noguchi 
followed  him.  But  for  the  opportunity  offered  him  by 
the  generosity  of  Dr.  Flexner,  Noguchi  might  not  have 
been  able  to  carve  out  for  himself  such  a  brilliant  career 
of  service  and  usefulness  to  all  humanity. 

Apart  from  the  achievements  of  Dr.  Takamine  and  Dr. 
Noguchi,  there  is  but  little  which  the  Japanese  can  be 
proud  of.  Only  a  very  few  Japanese,  having  graduated 
from  American  colleges,  have  been  made  members  of 
faculties  of  universities.  The  most  notable  example  is 
that  of  Dr.  Asakawa,  assistant  professor  of  Oriental  His- 
tory in  Yale  University.  Because  of  the  difficulty  of 
mastering  the  English  language,  the  Japanese  are  greatly 
handicapped  in  securing  such  professional  positions. 
In  the  field  of  literature,  Mr.  Adachi  is  perhaps  a  soli- 
tary figure. 

Perhaps  we  are  justified  in  mentioning  those  few  Japa- 
nese who  have  made  remarkable  records  in  the  world  of 
business.  New  York  has,  of  course,  a  number  of  suc- 
cessful Japanese  merchants,  but  these  Japanese,  with  the 
exception  of  Arai  and  INIoremura,  came  here  with  con- 
siderable capital  or  as  agents  of  large  firms  in  Japan. 
Of  those  Japanese  who  came  empty-handed  to  this  coun- 
try and  built  up  fortunes  by  dint  of  sheer  industry, 
shrewdness,  and  foresight,  we  must  mention  George 
Shima,  exaggeratedly  called  the  Potato  King  of  Cali- 
fornia. One  of  the  Japanese  pioneers  in  the  Golden 
State,  Shima  was  up  to  fifteen  years  ago  little  more 
than  a  "  boss,"  supplying  labourers  to  large  orchardists 
or  operating  farms  under  lease  contracts.  But  he  saw 
a  fortune  in  store  for  him  in  the  apparently  barren  delta 
of  the   San   Joaquin  River.     The   islets   in  the   lower 


THEIR  HUMBLE  ACHIEVEMENTS  99 

reaches  of  that  mighty  stream  were  covered  with  a  dense 
growth  of  reeds  and  shrubs,  and  were  frequently  inun- 
dated. The  appearance  presented  was  altogether  too  for- 
bidding to  attract  white  farmers.  Shima,  backed  by  an 
American  firm  which  owned  the  delta,  tried  his  hand  in 
developing  the  waste  lands.  For  an  experiment  he  diked 
one  of  the  islands,  and  drained  the  soil  inside  by  cutting 
a  wide  ditch  across  it.  If  there  was  superfluous  water 
in  the  ditch,  he  pumped  it  out  into  the  river  by  engine. 
The  land  now  yielded  to  the  plough  operated  by  steam 
engine.  For  a  year  or  two  following  the  first  ploughing 
the  virgin  soil  is  allowed  to  lie  idle,  so  that  the  brush 
and  reeds  would  rot  under  the  sod.  The  soil  thus  pre- 
pared was  found  excellent  for  the  cultivation  of  potatoes, 
and  Shima's  dream  came  true.  The  American  firm  in- 
terested in  the  exploitation  of  the  delta  encouraged  Shima 
to  extend  the  scope  of  his  undertaking,  and  to-day  the 
Japanese  Potato  King  cultivates  six  to  ten  thousand  acres 
of  delta  lands,  partly  leased,  and  partly  owned  by  him- 
self. 

Shima's  potato  ranches  are  not  far  from  Stockton.  At 
the  wharf  at  Stockton  one  notices  a  dozen  steamboats, 
barges,  tug-boats,  launches,  all  bearing  the  name  of 
Shima.  These  are  utilized  as  a  means  of  communication 
between  his  ranches  and  Stockton  and  to  transport  the 
potatoes  to  San  Francisco. 

Among  the  successful  Japanese  merchants  on  the  Pa- 
cific Coast,  M.  Furuya  of  Seattle  stands  foremost.  Like 
Shima,  he  came  to  this  country  with  no  capital  but 
sound  judgment  and  sound  body.  Gradually  he  forged 
ahead  in  business  until  to-day  he  maintains  two  stores 
in  Seattle,  and  a  store  each  in  Vancouver,  Tacoma,  and 
Portland.  His  Japanese  art-goods  store  in  Seattle, 
though  a  losing  enterprise  to  its  proprietor,  is  a  delight 


lOO  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

of  tourists  and  of  the  residents  of  that  city.  When  his 
manager  suggested  that  the  store  be  discontinued,  as  it 
was  a  heavy  burden  to  him,  he  smiled  complacently,  and 
in  his  characteristically  humble  manner  said :  "  That  store 
is  far  from  what  I  should  be  proud  of,  but  the  citizens 
here  seem  to  think  a  great  deal  of  it,  and  I  don't  like 
to  close  it.  What  small  fortune  I  have  been  able  to 
amass  was  made  in  Seattle,  and  I  feel  I  ought  to  do  some- 
thing for  the  city,  as  long  as  I  can  afford  it." 

Naturally  a  modest  man,  he  has  nothing  about  him 
that  suggests  the  millionaire.  He  still  lives  in  a  small,  un- 
pretentious house  which  he  occupied  when  he  was  yet  far 
from  being  opulent.  Himself  an  uneducated  man,  he  has 
keenly  felt  the  disadvantage  resulting  from  the  lack  of 
education  and  helped  many  young  men  go  through 
colleges. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  humble  record  of  Japanese 
achievements  in  America.  Yet,  considering  that  the  com- 
munity is  little  older  than  twenty  years,  we  may  console 
ourselves  that  it  has  made  even  so  humble  a  record. 
What  few  achievements  it  is  able  to  boast  of  are  the 
achievements  of  men  who  came  to  this  country  equipped 
with  knowledge  and  training  acquired  in  their  native 
land.  When  the  present  generation  is  succeeded  by 
younger  men  and  women,  to  whom  English  is  no  longer 
an  adopted  language  but  is  a  mother  tongue,  and  who 
have  enjoyed  every  advantage  of  education  and  other 
opportunities  offered  in  this  country,  the  Japanese  com- 
munity will,  let  us  hope,  be  able  to  register  achievements 
not  entirely  unworthy  of  recognition. 


I 


p- 


VI 

"  THEY  ARE  TAKING  OUR  FARMS !  " 

THE  source  from  which  Japanese  immigrants  are 
drawn  is  the  agricultural  population.  The  Japa- 
nese, small  as  his  country  is,  is  essentially  the  son 
of  the  soil.  In  the  days  of  feudalism  the  farmer  ranked 
next  only  to  the  samurai  in  the  social  scale.  This  ex- 
altation of  the  agricultural  class  was  due  to  various 
circumstances.  In  the  first  place,  peculiar  moral  concep- 
tions, more  or  less  prevalent  in  all  countries  before  the 
advent  of  the  industrial  era,  kept  commerce  in  abeyance 
and  assigned  an  unenviable  position  to  the  merchants. 
Commerce  meant  bargaining,  and  bargaining  could  not 
be  completely  dissociated  from  chicanery  and  prevarica- 
tion. So  the  samurai  looked  down  with  contempt  upon 
traffic  and  traffickers,  and  deliberately  nurtured  scorn 
for  money  and  the  arts  of  money-making.  Towards  the 
farmer,  however,  his  attitude  was  different.  To  him 
farming  was  one  productive  pursuit  which  could  be  free 
from  sordid  phases  of  commerce. 

In  the  second  place,  the  policy  of  exclusion  adopted 
under  the  old  regime  resulted  in  the  commercial,  as  well 
as  political,  isolation  of  the  island  nation.  Thus  obliged 
to  become  self-supporting,  the  country  necessarily  at- 
tached a  great  importance  to  men  who  tilled  the  soil 
and  produced  the  daily  necessaries  of  life.  Moreover, 
the  samurai,  to  be  able  to  devote  himself  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  martial  arts  and  to  a  career  of  conquest,  had  to 

lOI 


'162  '•*'''     "      ASIA   AT   THE   DOOR 

rely  upon  the  farmer  for  the  supply  of  provisions  for 
himself  and  for  his  retainers. 

Towards  the  last  days  of  the  military  regime  Japan 
enjoyed  a  period  of  peace  of  almost  three  centuries,  un- 
interrupted by  any  serious  warfare.  Thus  freed  from 
the  waste  of  war,  the  country  witnessed  an  unprecedented 
increase  of  population.  And  yet  its  doors  remained 
closed  not  only  to  those  who  rapped  at  them  from  with- 
out, but  to  those  who  wished  to  unlock  them  from  within 
and  to  go  forth  into  wider  fields  of  activity.  With  emi- 
gration forbidden,  with  the  importation  of  foreign  com- 
modities placed  under  ban,  and  with  the  group  of  small 
islands  offering  but  one-twelfth  of  its  total  area  for  cul- 
tivation, how  did  Japan  manage  to  secure  enough  food- 
stuff to  sustain  her  ever-increasing  population  ?  Only  by 
developing  farming  into  a  state  of  perfection.  Of  the 
science  of  agriculture,  as  the  term  is  understood  in  our 
modern  age,  she  knew  but  little,  but  experience  of  cen- 
turies taught  her  how  to  wrest  from  the  earth  all  that 
it  could  yield  without  impoverishing  the  soil.  Thus  agri- 
culture was  invested  with  the  dignity  of  a  fine  art,  and 
men  who  embraced  the  calling  were  regarded  not  as 
mere  tillers  of  the  soil,  but  as  gentlemen  with  keen  sense 
of  honour  and  self-respect.  They  were  not  even  at  lib- 
erty to  quit  their  vocation  and  join  the  mercantile  class, 
for  that  would  mean  a  lowering  of  their  prestige  and  the 
impairment  of  their  dignity. 

Looked  upon  as  a  most  important  element  in  the  body 
politic,  the  farmer  of  old  Japan  was  nevertheless  simple 
of  heart  and  almost  unconscious  of  the  high  esteem  in 
which  he  was  held.  Frugal,  contented,  industrious,  and 
devoted  to  the  hearth,  he  was  not  unlike  the  Swiss  farmer 
of  whom  Goldsmith  sang: 


"THEY   ARE   TAKING   OUR   FARMS!"  103 

"  Cheerful  at  morn,  he  wakes  from  short  repose, 
Breathes  the  keen  air  as  he  goes. 
At  night  returning,  every  labour  sped 
He  sits  him  down  the  monarch  of  a  shed, 
Smiles  by  his  cheerful  fire,  and  round  surveys 
His  children's  looks,  that  brighten  at  the  blaze." 

The  abolition  of  feudalism  afforded  him  a  greater  op- 
portunity and  wider  fields  of  activity.  The  new  regime 
removed  the  circumstances  which  kept  his  aspirations 
unawakened,  and  the  farmer  was  now  free  not  only  to 
carve  out  his  own  career,  but  to  seek  fortune  beyond 
the  narrow  precincts  of  his  native  land.  With  the  inau- 
guration of  a  local  self-government  three  decades  ago, 
he  became  as  important  a  factor  in  the  political  as  in  the 
economic  life  of  the  coimtry. 

This,  then,  is  the  sort  of  population  from  which  most 
Japanese  immigrants  to  these  shores  are  derived.  It  is, 
therefore,  but  natural  that  the  Japanese  in  America 
should  show  strong  preference  for  farming  and  farm 
labour  in  spite  of  the  great  difficulties  which  they  must 
experience  in  adjusting  themselves  to  a  method  of  agri- 
culture totally  foreign  to  them.  In  the  past  few  years 
many  well-educated  young  men  from  Japan  have  taken 
to  farming.  Some  of  such  Japanese  even  studied  in  col- 
lege. As  farmers  such  "  tenderfoots  "  may  not,  at  first 
at  any  rate,  be  so  successful  as  those  settlers  who  are 
inured  to  farm  life  from  their  childhood,  but  had  no 
opportunity  to  receive  modern  education.  Yet,  in  the 
long  run,  these  educated  Japanese  agriculturists  will 
prove  more  valuable  assets  to  this  country,  because  of 
their  intelligence,  their  adaptability,  their  ability  to  im- 
bibe American  ideas  and  adopt  American  customs. 

California  is,  of  course,  the  chief  field  of  activity  for 
Japanese  farmers,  but  in  almost  every  State  whose  agri- 


I04  ASIA   AT  THE  DOOR 

cultural  resources  are  yet  comparatively  little  exploited, 
Japanese  have  taken  up  farms.  According  to  the  "  Nichi- 
bei  Nenkan,"  the  year-book  published  by  the  Japanese 
American  of  San  Francisco,  in  1912  they  owned  31,814 
acres  of  farmland  and  leased  225,046  acres.  Distributed 
among  various  States  the  figures  are  as  follows : 

Owned  Leased 

California  I7,76s  172,512 

Colorado   S25  15.997 

Idaho   12,174 

Texas 10,390  2,330 

Washington    12,136 

Utah  123  5,659 

Oregon    1,892  2,033 

Nebraska    1,189 

New  York 603  325 

Florida 364  120 

Other  States  152  571 

Total    31,814      225,046 

It  is  estimated  that  about  41,000  Japanese,  equivalent 
to  some  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  entire  Japanese  population 
in  continental  United  States,  are  engaged  in  agriculture. 
Of  this  total  farming  population  about  5,000  are  inde- 
pendent farmers,  while  the  remaining  36,000  are  farm- 
hands employed  by  their  compatriots  or  by  American 
farmers.  Even  as  the  Jew  takes  to  the  clothing  trades, 
and  the  Italian  to  various  mercantile  businesses,  so  the 
Japanese  shows  peculiar  preference  for  agricultural  in- 
dustries. In  California  he  is  mostly  engaged  in  potato, 
bean,  beet,  onion,  and  fruit  culture;  in  Washington  and 
Oregon  his  chief  interest  is  in  the  orchard  and  dairy 
ranch;  in  Texas  he  is  almost  exclusively  engaged  in  the 
culture  of  rice ;  in  Idaho  and  Colorado  he  finds  the  sugar- 
beet  industry  most  profitable ;  and  in  Florida  he  has  begun 
to  raise  pineapples.  On  the  outskirts  of  some  of  the 
larger  cities  on  the  Pacific  Coast  he  has  become  a  factor 


"THEY   ARE  TAKING  OUR  FARMS!"  105 

in  truck  gardening.  In  Seattle  and  Los  Angeles  in  par- 
ticular his  garden  products  are  important  features  in  the 
public  markets  both  in  point  of  quantity  and  quality.  At 
San  Francisco  he  operates  one  of  the  largest  nurseries  on 
the  Pacific  Coast.  Indeed,  the  Domoto  Brothers*  estab- 
lishment is  so  extensive  that  they  virtually  control  the 
cut-flower  market  of  San  Francisco. 

In  Idaho  and  Washington  the  Japanese,  while  doing 
considerable  farming,  own  no  land.  This  is  because  those 
two  States  have  not  until  recently  permitted  foreigners 
to  own  land.  In  March  last,  however,  the  State  of 
Idaho  enacted  a  new  land  law,  extending  the  right  of 
landownership  to  all  aliens,  Japanese  not  excluded,  while 
the  State  of  Washington  revised  its  laws  so  that  all 
foreigners  are  entitled  to  own  urban  land,  though  it  still 
denies  them  the  right  to  own  rural  land.  It  seems  not 
without  significance  that  these  States  adopted  new  laws 
without  making  any  discrimination  against  the  Japanese, 
just  at  the  time  when  the  California  legislature  was 
straining  all  its  nerves  to  enact  a  law  especially  directed 
against  the  Japanese  in  the  matter  of  landownership. 
Indeed,  some  of  the  sponsors  for  the  anti- Japanese  land 
bills  in  California  volunteered  to  counsel  the  legislators 
of  the  neighbouring  States  to  follow  the  example  they 
had  set,  and  adopt  a  law  depriving  the  Japanese  of  the 
right  of  landownership.  Oregon  made  no  response; 
Idaho  and  Washington  repudiated  the  advice  by  pass- 
ing a  law  in  favour  of  the  Japanese. 

Apart  from  such  a  magical  catchword  as  "  America 
for  Americans,"  or  "  California  for  Califomians,"  there 
is  no  plausible  reason  for  prohibiting  the  Japanese  from 
acquiring  land.  Such  arguments  as  are  advanced  by 
the  authors  of  anti- Japanese  measures  have  already  been 
exploded.    They  argue  that  the  Japanese  does  not  know 


I06  ASIA   AT   THE   DOOR 

how  to  care  for  the  soil,  so  that  a  farm  worked  by  him 
for  a  few  years  becomes  practically  worthless.  This  is 
a  calumny  pure  and  simple.  The  Japanese,  instead  of 
ruining  good  soil,  enriches  poor  soil,  redeems  waste  land, 
and  renovates  impoverished  farms.  Back  in  his  old  coun- 
try he  never  heard  of  such  a  thing  as  abandoned  farms, 
and  he  is  bewildered  to  learn  that  in  our  Eastern  States 
there  are  countless  farms  whose  soils  have  been  so  im- 
poverished that  nobody  cares  to  cultivate  them.  No,  the 
Japanese  cannot  afford  to  abandon  any  farm,  once  he 
settles  upon  it.  If  he  migrated  from  one  section  to 
another,  deserting  the  old  farm  and  taking  up  the  new, 
as  do  many  of  our  farmers,  he  would  soon  have  to  stand 
upon  the  brink  of  the  ocean — so  small  is  his  country. 
The  habit  of  intensive  cultivation,  which  he  must  per- 
force acquire  in  such  a  country,  he  naturally  brings  with 
him  to  the  new  country  whither  he  emigrates.  It  is, 
therefore,  but  natural  that  the  Japanese  farmers  in  Cali- 
fornia should  show  unique  skill  and  fastidiousness  in 
cultivating  their  lands.  Because  of  the  care  which  they 
lavish  on  the  soil,  the  farm  rented  to  a  Japanese  com- 
mands an  unusually  high  price.  This  fact  is  unreservedly 
recognized  in  the  special  report  on  the  Japanese  pre- 
pared a  few  years  ago  by  the  commissioner  of  labour  of 
California,  Mr.  J.  D.  Mackenzie.  The  charge  that  the 
Japanese  abuse  the  soil  finds  no  endorsement  either  in 
the  annual  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Labour  of  California 
or  in  the  voluminous  reports  of  the  United  States  Immi- 
gration Commission,  of  which  Senator  Dillingham  was 
chairman. 

Where  the  Japanese  goes  into  farming  on  a  rather 
small  scale,  utilizing  the  skill  which  he  had  acquired  in 
his  native  country,  he  is  generally  successful.  Not  a  few 
of  them,   however,   have   caught   the   "  get-rich-quick " 


"THEY   ARE  TAKING   OUR   FARMS!"  107 

spirit  of  the  strenuous  West,  and  have  embarked  upon 
agricultural  enterprises  of  a  speculative  nature  for  which 
he  has  neither  experience  nor  means.  Such  undertakings, 
except  in  a  few  cases,  resulted  in  failure.  True,  there 
is  George  Shima,  the  Japanese  "  Potato  King,"  who  cul- 
tivates at  Stockton,  California,  six  thousand  to  ten  thou- 
sand acres  of  potatoes.  But  Shima  is  a  solitary  figure. 
Such  bonanza  farming  as  was  common  in  the  earlier 
days  of  California  is  abnormal,  and  it  seems  desirable 
that  the  Japanese  should  adopt  more  conservative  meth- 
ods and  practise  farming  on  a  modest  scale. 

It  has  been  contended  that  when  a  Japanese  settles 
on  a  farm  it  always  results  in  the  lowering  of  price  of 
the  adjoining  farms,  because  the  Caucasian  farmers  do 
not  desire  to  live  in  his  neighbourhood.  Facts  do  not 
countenance  such  contentions.  In  the  first  place,  the 
Japanese  have  in  most  cases  settled  or  worked  on  unde- 
veloped lands,  whose  fertility  was  problematical  and 
whose  price  was  naturally  very  low.  They  clear  such 
lands  and  convert  them  into  highly  productive  farms. 
The  land  about  Fresno  is  of  sandy  soil  and  was  long 
regarded  as  unproductive.  Moreover,  in  the  interior 
of  California  the  winters  are  rigorous  and  the  summers 
intensely  hot,  and  the  people  who  were  accustomed  to 
the  milder  climate  of  its  coast  territory  did  not  care  to 
settle  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Fresno.  But  the  Japa- 
nese were  induced  to  come,  and  the  country  soon  became 
rich  with  raisins  and  wines.  To  Japanese,  Fresno  is  in- 
debted for  its  general  prosperity  and  for  the  high  price 
which  its  farmland  now  commands. 

At  Florin,  not  far  from  Sacramento,  it  was  also  the 
Japanese  who  utilized  the  poorest  lands  in  the  vicinity 
and  converted  them  into  profitable  strawberry  gardens. 
The  lowlands  in  the  Sacramento  Valley  are  damp  and 


I08  ASIA   AT   THE   DOOR 

unhealthy,  and  in  consequence  remained  long  undevel- 
oped. Again  the  Japanese  were  brought  in,  and  the  sec- 
tion now  virtually  flows  with  milk  and  honey. 

In  Washington,  Oregon,  Idaho,  Texas,  and  in  almost 
every  State  where  the  Japanese  is  engaged  in  agriculture, 
it  is  much  the  same  story.  He  often  creates  the  value 
of  land  as  he  develops  it.  Where  he  enters  into  farming 
in  a  country  already  well  developed,  he  is  usually  on 
friendly  terms  with  his  Caucasian  neighbours.  What- 
ever the  sentiment  of  urban  communities  towards  their 
Japanese  population,  in  the  countryside  there  is  little 
ill-feeling  between  the  Japanese  and  American  farmers. 

At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  admitted  that  most  Japa- 
nese farmers,  like  their  compatriots  in  the  city,  are  not 
yet  in  position  to  cultivate  refined  taste.  Their  dwellings 
are  not  yet  what  they  can  be  proud  of,  and  their  modes 
of  living  show  little  refinement,  though  they  are  fastidi- 
ous and  even  extravagant  both  as  to  food  and  clothing. 
But  no  Japanese  will  admit  that  this  is  to  be  their  ulti- 
mate condition.  So  far  from  it,  they  are  ambitious  not 
only  to  acquire  wealth  but  to  elevate  their  social  stand- 
ing. Eager  to  learn  English,  they  are  even  more  anxious 
to  utilize  the  knowledge  of  the  language  they  acquired 
in  their  efforts  to  understand  our  institutions  and  cus- 
toms. When  the  hardships  and  trials  inevitable  in  the 
initial  stage  of  their  undertakings  are  passed,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  they  will  emerge  from  their  present  state  of 
life.  Time  is  not  yet  far  back  when  even  the  Irish,  among 
whom  there  are  to-day  talents  and  geniuses  America  may 
well  be  proud  of,  lived  in  an  infelicitous  condition  which 
their  American  neighbours  made  an  object  of  ridicule 
and  sarcasm.    We  used  to  sing : 

"There  is  a  pig  in  the  parlour, 
And  that  is  Irish  too." 


"THEY   ARE  TAKING   OUR  FARMS!"  109 

The  pig  has  made  an  exit  from  the  parlour  of  the 
Irishman,  and  in  his  place  has  appeared  a  piano,  a  "  talk- 
ing machine,"  and  a  set  of  tasteful  furniture.  There  is 
no  reason  why  the  Japanese  should  not  go  through  simi- 
lar stages  of  evolution.  It  is  only  some  fifteen  years 
since  the  Japanese  started  farming  in  this  country,  and 
it  is  unreasonable  to  expect  them  to  live  as  the  older 
settlers  of  other  races  live. 

The  anti-Japanese  agitators  argue  that  the  Japanese 
can  live  almost  on  nothing.  The  fact  is  that  it  costs 
the  Japanese  just  as  much  to  live  as  it  costs  any  other 
people  in  the  corresponding  class.  The  trouble  with  the 
Japanese  is  that  he  is,  in  a  sense,  a  poor  manager  of 
household  economy.  Most  Japanese  are  not  satisfied  with 
American  diet  alone,  and  to  cater  to  their  whimsical  pal- 
ates they  loosen  the  purse  strings  for  exotic  edibles  im- 
ported from  their  native  country.  Including  duties  and 
the  cost  of  transportation,  the  price  of  such  food-stuffs 
is  exorbitant.  When  they  marry  their  wives  demand 
flowing  Japanese  gowns  as  well  as  close-fitting  American 
dresses.  What  is  more  serious,  neither  they  nor  their 
helpmeets  know  how  to  utilize  for  table  such  materials 
as  can  be  easily  obtained  from  the  farm.  When  the  Japa- 
nese farmer  suppresses  his  peculiar  craving  for  imported 
food-stuflFs  and  learns  to  satisfy  his  palate  with  common 
American  dishes ;  when  his  wife,  like  the  wives  of  Ameri- 
can farmers,  learns  how  to  cure  ham,  churn  butter,  con- 
vert sour  milk  into  breads  and  cakes,  and  cook  eggs  in 
a  hundred  and  one  wonderful  ways,  his  cost  of  living 
will  be  greatly  reduced.  Then  the  money  thus  saved  will 
go  a  long  way  towards  the  improvement  of  his  dwelling. 

I  have  purposely  referred  to  the  unsatisfactory  condi- 
tion of  the  houses  occupied  by  Japanese  farmers,  because 
during  my  trip  through  the  farming  districts  of  the  Sac- 


no  ASIA   AT   THE   DOOR 

ramento  Valley  I  was  greatly  disappointed  with  such 
houses.  They  are  not  houses,  but  huts.  In  such  places 
as  Walnut  Grove,  Isleton,  Grand  Island,  and  Courtland 
I  found  the  condition  especially  bad.  In  these  places,  as 
in  many  another  section,  the  Chinese  preceded  the  Japa- 
nese as  farmhands  or  tenants.  To  quarter  them  the  land- 
lords put  up  camps,  the  cheapest  possible  structures  that 
lumber  and  nails  could  build.  Never  painted  and  inva- 
riably of  unplaned  lumber,  these  structures  are  far  less 
attractive  than  the  corn  cribs  or  hay  barns  which  are 
commonly  seen  in  the  farm  country  of  the  Middle  West. 
When  the  Japanese  came  to  take  the  place  of  Chinese, 
they  were  naturally  given  the  same  camps  which  their 
predecessors  had  vacated.  Upon  entering  these  dreary 
camps  one  still  finds  mementoes  of  their  former  tenants 
in  the  numerous  pieces  of  red  paper,  containing  mo- 
notonous Chinese  characters  signifying  "  wealth,  good 
luck,  and  longevity,"  and  pasted  at  random  on  the  walls, 
on  the  doors,  and  even  on  the  ceilings. 

"  Why  don't  you  scrape  off  these  hideous  symbols  of 
Mammon,  and  paint  the  walls  and  make  the  house  look 
a  bit  more  decent  ?  '*  I  said  to  many  of  the  Japanese  farm- 
ers I  talked  with. 

"  Oh,  it's  no  use !  "  they  would  always  reply.  "  It's 
impossible  to  paint  those  rough  boards.  We  won't  live 
in  such  miserable  shacks  for  ever;  we  expect  to  build 
some  day  somewhere." 

"  Somewhere  ?  "  I  queried.  "  W^hy  not  build  here  at 
once?  You  have  been  here  long  enough  to  save  enough 
to  put  up  a  modest  farmhouse." 

"  Because  the  place  doesn't  belong  to  us.  We  are  just 
tenants  and  our  term  of  lease  is  never  longer  than  a  year 
or  two.  And,  besides,  you  know  what  the  labour  unions 
at  San  Francisco  and  the  politicians  at  Sacramento  are 


"THEY   ARE  TAKING   OUR  FARMS!"  HI 

talking  about  us  year  in  year  out.  We  may  have  to  get 
out  any  time.  Why  should  we  invest  anything  in  this 
old  ramshackle  building?  Our  money  is  hard-earned, 
every  penny  of  it ;  it  would  be  rank  foolishness  to  waste 
it  as  you  suggest,  when  we  don't  know  what  is  going 
to  become  of  us  next  year.  As  well  dump  it  in  the  mud ! 
If  our  position  were  legally  secure,  why,  that  would  be 
different." 

It  was  extremely  unfortunate  that  the  Japanese  came 
after  the  Chinese.  The  Chinese  was  submissive  to  the 
point  of  servility.  He  was  easy  to  satisfy,  and  was  happy 
sleeping  and  eating  in  his  dismal  hut.  Had  there  not 
been  in  existence  thousands  of  such  huts  vacated  by  the 
Chinese  and  waiting  for  new  tenants,  the  Japanese  might 
have  built  more  respectable  dwellings.  The  presence  of 
Chinese,  moreover,  had  instilled  in  the  bosoms  of  the 
Calif ornians  a  fixed  prejudice  against  all  Oriental  peo- 
ples. They  had  got  the  notion  that  Asiatics  must  come 
to  their  country,  if  they  are  to  come  at  all,  only  to  hew 
wood  and  draw  water  for  them,  and  not  to  become 
independent  and  self-reliant.  So  long  as,  therefore,  the 
Japanese  walked  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Chinese  and 
showed  no  desire  for  independence,  they  were  tolerated 
and  even  praised.  But  once  the  little  brown  men  showed 
their  mettle,  Californians  heaped  upon  them  vituperations 
and  slanders  which  they  did  not  deserve.  What  success 
the  Japanese  farmers  have  achieved  is  due  to  naught  but 
their  perseverance,  their  temperance,  their  willingness  to 
work.  As  Miss  Alice  Brown,  of  Florin,  says  in  a  pam- 
phlet, "  the  very  fact  that  the  Japanese  is  an  industrious 
being  and  a  highly  successful  producer  gives  white  farm- 
ers spasms  of  alarm.  *  They  are  taking  our  farms '  is 
the  woeful  wail,  which  means  that  the  slothful  must  get 
to  work.    So,  in  their  blindness,  they  would  destroy  the 


112  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

productivity  of  the  Japanese,  return  to  the  past  status 
of  barren  fields,  that  their  meagre  and  inferior  product 
would  meet  no  competition.  It  is  blind,  selfish  greed  that 
recognizes  only  self  as  a  factor  in  the  world's  struggle. 
It  is  ignorance  and  inhumanity  that  does  not  consider  the 
larger  whole." 

What  I  have  said  about  the  mode  of  living  of  Japa- 
nese farmers  may  furnish  anti- Japanese  agitators  a  pre- 
text for  restricting  their  rights.  The  Japanese,  they  may 
argue,  do  not  spend  their  earnings  on  American  merchan- 
dise, but  buy  Japanese  goods,  thus  benefiting  little  the 
community  in  which  they  live.  Ah !  the  old  story  of  the 
pennywise.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Japanese  patronizes 
American  stores  more  than  he  patronizes  Japanese  deal- 
ers. But,  even  if  he  sent  all  his  profits  to  his  native 
country,  what  of  that?  His  contribution  to  California 
would  still  be  great. 

Take,  for  example,  the  case  of  Florin,  which  has  been 
cited  by  the  anti- Japanese  legislators  at  Sacramento  as 
a  pretext  for  the  need  of  laws  discriminating  against  the 
Japanese.  In  the  neighbouring  region  of  Florin  the  soil 
is  a  shallow  bedrock,  abounding  in  sloughs.  The  land 
has  to  be  irrigated  by  means  of  artesian  water  conducted 
through  ditches.  Because  of  the  great  amount  of  money 
and  labour  required  in  the  boring  of  wells  and  the  lev- 
elling of  land  for  irrigation,  there  was  but  little  induce- 
ment for  the  white  farmer,  though  the  soil,  with  adequate 
preparation,  was  especially  adapted  to  grapes  and  straw- 
berries. Before  the  advent  of  Japanese,  the  country  was 
poor,  its  output  of  fruits  being  extremely  meagre.  The 
vast  fields  had  been  sowed  to  grain,  but  the  fertility  of 
the  soil  was  found  so  limited  that  each  succeeding  year 
decreased  the  yield  until  the  grain  industry  was  no 
longer  profitable.    At  last  the  land  was  permitted  to  lie 


"THEY   ARE  TAKING   OUR   FARMS!"  II3 

idle;  but  when  the  Japanese  came  in  its  owners  saw  a 
chance  to  turn  it  into  a  profit,  offering  it  to  them  on 
yearly  payments  for  a  price  they  never  would  have  gotten 
from  the  white  investor.  In  a  year's  time  the  barren 
fields  were  changed  into  attractive  berry  gardens.  With 
their  usual  foresight,  the  Japanese  plant  grape-vines  along 
with  strawberries,  so  that  when  the  three-years'  life  of 
the  strawberry  ceases  a  productive  vineyard  takes  its 
place.  Their  vines  are  robust  and  their  berry  plants 
luxuriant,  and  in  comparison  with  them  those  raised  by 
the  white  farmers  look  sadly  neglected.  The  Japanese 
spare  no  pains  in  their  efforts  to  improve  the  quality  of 
their  produce,  knowing  that  the  best  quality  brings  the 
highest  price. 

And  to-day  Florin  boasts  of  shipping  $150,000  worth 
of  strawberries  annually.  The  shipment  of  grapes  is  also 
large.  Who  created  this  profitable  industry  but  the  Japa- 
nese? He  it  was  who  put  Florin  on  the  map,  a  tiny 
sleepy  town  up  to  fourteen  years  ago.  The  opponents 
of  the  Japanese  naturally  ask,  "  What  becomes  of  this 
money  that  the  Japanese  get  ?  "  The  answer  is  given  by 
an  American  resident  of  Florin,  Mr.  L.  M.  Landsbor- 
ough.  He  informs  me  that  the  Japanese  strawberry 
growers  of  Florin  annually  pay  the  express  company  from 
$15,000  to  $20,000.  Then,  the  production  of  strawber- 
ries, valued  at  $150,000,  must  confer  a  considerable  profit 
upon  the  box-maker,  besides  giving  employment  to  his 
millhands.  The  railroad,  too,  shares  in  the  growers' 
profit,  while  the  well-borer  and  the  engine-man  are  paid 
high  wages.  Finally,  the  storekeeper  sells  the  Japanese 
growers  and  their  employes  provisions  and  sundry  ar- 
ticles, for  these  eclectic  folk  from  the  Orient  are  no 
more  satisfied  with  Japanese  articles  alone  than  they 
are  satisfied  with  American  goods — they  wish  to  enjoy 


114  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

both.  Last,  but  not  least,  the  local  banker,  who  is  always 
willing  to  advance  cash  for  the  Japanese,  has  due  share  in 
their  profitable  industry.  No  industry  can  be  carried  on 
without  due  investment.  Farming  means  expenditure 
as  well  as  profit-making.  He  indeed  must  be  blind  who 
fails  to  see  that  a  strawberry  industry  of  $150,000  con- 
fers a  great  benefit  upon  the  community  in  which  that 
industry  is  carried  on. 

We  think  ill  of  the  Russians  because  they  ill-treat  the 
Jews.  The  Jewish  problem  in  Russia  is  a  problem  aris- 
ing out  of  the  contact  of  a  wonderfully  alert  and  adroit 
race  with  a  peculiarly  phlegmatic,  dull  race.  The  Rus- 
sian peasants,  ignorant  and  guileless,  usually  go  to  the 
wall  when  confronted  with  the  business  acumen  of  the 
Jews.  The  Japanese  question  in  California  presents  a 
totally  different  aspect.  Here  relations  of  the  Japanese 
with  the  white  farmers  are  not  relations  between  two 
races  separated  from  each  other  by  a  chasm  of  intel- 
lectual discrepancy.  Intellectually  both,  I  believe,  stand 
on  a  par;  there  is  neither  inferiority  nor  superiority  be- 
tween them.  The  American,  however,  has  the  advantage 
over  the  Japanese  in  that  he  is  conversant  with  English 
and  is  familiar  with  the  farming  methods  and  tools  em- 
ployed in  this  country.  In  the  stratagem  of  bargaining, 
too,  the  American  is,  on  the  whole,  more  than  the  equal 
of  the  Japanese.  I  should  be  the  last  man  to  accept  with- 
out much  qualification  such  sweeping  assertions  as  are 
made  by  Miss  Alice  Brown  as  to  the  relative  moral  in- 
tegrity of  the  Japanese  and  American,  and  I  give  the 
following  passage  from  her  pamphlet  for  what  it  is 
worth : 

"  It  is  the  whites  that  bear  the  record  of  shame  and 
dishonour  in  dealing  with  the  Japanese.  It  is  no  dis- 
grace to  swindle  them  in  their  ignorance,  to  sell  them 


"THEY   ARE  TAKING   OUR   FARMS!"  II5 

a  worthless  horse  as  a  perfect  animal  for  a  round  sum, 
to  unload  worthless  things  on  them  for  a  big  price,  and 
to  overcharge  them  at  every  turn.  It  is  these  very  same 
white  tricksters  who  denounce  the  Japanese  when  they 
are  foiled  in  their  own  game;  for  the  Japanese  are  an 
alert,  brainy  people,  and  they  soon  learn  a  means  for  self- 
defence.  When  they  can  no  longer  be  exploited,  they 
are  dishonest.  It  is  the  same  old  story  of  greed  and 
the  unscrupulous  factor  is  the  white  man.'* 

It  is  chiefly  untiring  industry  and  unwavering  perse- 
verance, and  little  else,  which  crown  Japanese  enter- 
prise with  success  even  where  the  white  farmer  reaps 
a  failure. 


VII 

THE  JAPANESE  IN  OUR  CITIES 

"I^R.  SUN  YAT-SEN,"  said  a  California  friend  of 
I  3  mine,  "ought  to  be  thankful  to  the  Japanese 
gamblers  in  California  for  his  success  in  estab- 
lishing the  Chinese  Republic." 

"  What !  "  I  exclaimed  in  astonishment.  "  What  did 
the  Japanese  gamblers  do  for  him  ?  "  And  this  is  the 
story  which  my  query  elicited  from  my  friend : 

The  Chinese  revolution  of  two  years  ago  was  financed 
mostly  from  the  United  States.  Not  by  the  money  kings 
of  Wall  Street,  as  one  may  imagine,  but  by  the  appar- 
ently impecunious  Chinese  living  in  various  parts  of  this 
country.  Sun  Yat-sen,  the  star  in  the  drama  of  revolu- 
tion, was  long  an  exile  in  many  lands,  and  while  in 
America  he  visited  every  village  and  town  where  Chinese 
were  found  in  any  considerable  number.  Inspired  by 
his  ardour  and  patriotism,  every  Chinese  who  came  in 
contact  with  him  pledged  support  for  the  cause  of  lib- 
eration. Thus  the  revolutionary  fund  was  raised. 
Among  the  Chinese  who  contributed  to  this  fund  were 
merchants,  farmers,  domestic  servants,  camp  cooks,  and 
what  not,  but  the  most  liberal  contributors  were  the  keep- 
ers of  gambling  dens  in  California  and  those  deriving 
benefits  from  them,  for  money  easily  acquired  is  also 
easily  parted  with.  Now  the  patrons,  or  rather  victims, 
of  these  dens  were  mostly  Japanese.  In  California  alone 
these  gambling  dens  used  to  levy  from  the  Japanese  a 

ii6 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   OUR   CITIES  1 17 

toll  of  several  million  dollars  every  year !  So  the  revolu- 
tionary fund  raised  in  America  virtually  came  from  the 
pockets  of  the  Japanese. 

The  story  seemed  a  hyperbole  and  I  could  not  believe 
it.  But  when  I  visited  all  the  towns  and  villages  which 
my  friend  told  me  were  rendezvous  of  gamblers,  I  began 
to  realize  the  magnitude  of  the  evil  business  conducted 
by  the  Chinese.  One  can  form  no  adequate  idea  of  the 
gambling  business  from  what  one  sees  in  the  Chinatowns 
of  San  Francisco  or  Los  Angeles,  though  even  here  gam- 
bling dens  are  numerous  enough.  One  must  visit  the 
underworld  of  such  smaller  cities  as  Fresno  or  Stock- 
ton, and  again  make  a  detour  into  such  out-of-the-way 
places  as  Walnut  Grove,  Isleton,  or  Courtland  on  the 
Sacramento  River. 

In  the  earlier  days  the  Chinese  were  mostly  employed 
on  farms  and  orchards.  As  these  labourers  grew  older 
and  incapacitated  for  heavy  work,  they  quit  the  country 
and  moved  to  the  city.  Meanwhile,  the  exclusion  law 
prevented  the  replenishing  of  the  ranches  and  orchards 
abandoned  by  the  older  Chinese  with  younger  and  stur- 
dier labourers  from  China.  Thus  it  has  come  to  pass 
that  almost  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  Chinese  population 
now  in  California  is  in  the  city,  only  the  remaining  twenty 
per  cent,  still  being  engaged  in  farming  or  farm  labour. 
And  in  every  city  or  town  where  Chinese  congregate 
gambling  dens  have  sprung  up  as  their  necessary  acces- 
sories. The  Chinatowns  of  Stockton  and  Fresno  con- 
sist mostly  of  gambling  houses,  while  the  legitimate  busi- 
ness conducted  by  a  comparatively  few  Chinese  is  largely 
dependent  upon  the  business  of  ill-repute.  In  the  small 
rural  towns  dotting  the  vast  agricultural  fields  of  the 
Sacramento  Valley,  the  Chinatowns  are  simply  groups  of 
gambling  dens.    When  I  first  walked  through  rows  of 


Il8  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

such  dens  in  Walnut  Grove,  I  could  not  help  exclaiming, 
"This  is  hell!" 

One  naturally  wonders,  as  I  did,  how  these  gambling 
dens  can  do  a  thriving  business.  Obviously  there  are 
not  enough  Chinese  in  the  country  to  justify  the*  main- 
tenance of  so  many  dens.  The  explanation  that  they 
depend  upon  Japanese  patronage  is  not  at  first  convinc- 
ing, for  even  the  Japanese  are  not  much  in  evidence  most 
of  the  time.  One  can,  however,  understand  the  situa- 
tion if  one  knows  something  of  the  agriculture  of  Cali- 
fornia. Farming  industries  in  the  State  require  large 
forces  of  hands  only  in  certain  seasons.  When  such 
seasons  are  over  the  farm  labourers  are  dismissed  and 
naturally  drift  into  towns,  where  they  seek  relaxation 
with  their  hard-earned  money.  It  is  then  that  the  Chinese 
gambling  houses  do  big  business.  The  Japanese,  fresh 
from  orchards  and  ranches,  have  their  purses  filled  with 
gold  and  silver,  but  before  their  first  month  in  the  city 
is  gone  they  are  "broke."  Where  does  the  money  go? 
Seldom  anywhere  else  than  to  the  Chinese  gambling  den. 
Is  it  because  the  Japanese  are  poor  gamblers  that  they 
are  always  fleeced  by  the  Chinese?  Undoubtedly  that 
is  one  of  the  reasons,  but  there  seems  to  be  some  intri- 
cate device  invented  by  the  Chinese  so  that  no  gambler, 
however  crafty,  could  come  out  of  the  den  without  part- 
ing with  all  the  money  in  his  pockets. 

The  city  of  Fresno,  being  the  centre  of  a  vast  grape 
country,  naturally  attracts  a  large  number  of  Japanese 
labourers  when  the  busy  season  on  the  vineyards  is  over. 
Here  Chinatown,  which  is  separated  from  the  "  Ameri- 
can "  town  by  a  railroad  track,  may  well  be  called  a  gam- 
bling town.  Block  after  block  is  congested  with  those 
untidy,  dismal  buildings  within  which  are  played  the  evil 
games.    A  lure  for  the  Japanese  labourers,  they  are  also 


THE  JAPANESE   IN    OUR   CITIES  HQ 

their  snare.  The  law  forbids  open  gambling,  but  in  no 
Chinatown  in  California  have  such  laws  been  strictly  or 
consistently  enforced.  A  few  years  ago  the  gambling 
mania  became  so  alarming  that  the  better  classes  of  Japa- 
nese In  California  organized  an  association  whose  object 
was  the  extermination  of  gambling  among  Japanese. 
But  to  prevent  gambling  by  the  Japanese  the  Chinese 
gambling  houses  must  first  of  all  be  closed.  The  task 
was  herculean,  almost  quixotic.  But  the  Japanese  Re- 
form Society  undertook  it  first  in  Fresno,  then  in  other 
cities. 

The  greatest  difficulty  in  such  a  campaign  lies  in  the 
difficulty  of  proving  before  the  court  that  such  and  such 
Chinese  are  operators  of  gambling  dens.  The  moment 
the  police  attempt  to  raid  the  den  their  activities  are  de- 
tected by  the  Chinese  spies,  who  warn  their  fellows  of 
the  approach  of  the  authorities,  so  that  when  the  police 
enter  the  tables  are  clear  of  dice  and  gamblers.  All  is 
serene  and  quiet,  the  few  remaining  Chinese  peacefully 
smoking  their  exotic  pipes  and  twinkling  their  curious 
eyes  in  apparent  innocence.  How  are  the  police  to  tell 
that  only  a  few  minutes  since  there  was  on  the  very 
spot  a  group  of  gamblers  absorbed  in  their  game  ? 

The  daring  souls  in  the  Japanese  Reform  Society  of 
Fresno,  seeing  that  the  authorities  could  not  be  relied 
upon,  volunteered  to  raid  the  gambling  dens  themselves. 
They  called  themselves  the  "  Band  of  Desperates,"  and 
such  indeed  they  were.  Some  of  them,  disguised  as  gam- 
blers, would  enter  the  den  and  feign  interest  in  the  game. 
Meanwhile  other  members  of  the  band,  obliging  unwill- 
ing officers  to  accompany  them,  would  suddenly  descend 
upon  the  den.  As  usual,  the  Chinese  spies  would  come 
hurrying  to  warn  their  employers,  but  at  this  critical  mo- 
ment the  reformer-gamblers  would  suddenly  throw  aside 


I20  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

disguise  and  change  into  allies  of  the  officers  and  Japa- 
nese rushing  into  the  scene  of  disorder.  The  reformer- 
gamblers,  instead  of  being  scared  away  by  the  spies, 
would  surrender  themselves  to  the  raiding  police,  subse- 
quently to  appear  before  the  court  to  testify  that  such 
and  such  Chinese  kept  gambling  dens. 

For  a  while  the  heroic  scheme  worked  splendidly  and 
a  few  gambling  dens  were  closed.  But  the  police  proved 
by  no  means  consistent  in  backing  the  Japanese.  The 
court,  too,  issued  an  injunction,  forbidding  the  police  to 
invade  the  dens  without  the  proper  warrant.  These  cir- 
cumstances made  it  impossible  for  the  Reform  Associa- 
tion to  carry  on  the  crusade. 

The  Japanese  in  America  are  possessed  to  a  remark- 
able extent  of  public  spirit  and  civic  sense.  In  every 
town  in  the  Western  States  they  have  organized  the  Japa- 
nese Association,  whose  primary  object  is  the  promotion 
of  moral  well-being  among  the  Japanese.  If  the  au- 
thorities would  only  co-operate  with  such  organizations, 
much  reform  could  be  effected.  The  Reform  Society, 
though  no  longer  able  to  secure  official  support,  is  still 
waging  war  against  gambling,  but  not  so  effectively  as 
before.  The  only  thing  it  can  lawfully  do  under  the 
circumstances  is  to  admonish  Japanese  gamblers  and 
place  them  under  a  sort  of  surveillance.  The  campaign 
has  produced  some  effect,  and  the  Japanese  frequenters 
of  Chinese  dens  are  palpably  decreasing. 

The  inaction  and  unwillingness  of  the  authorities  are 
often  responsible  for  retarding  the  reform  of  the  un- 
derworld. Mr.  Chester  Rowell,  editor  of  the  Fresno 
Republican,  in  a  brilliant  article  in  the  "  Annals  of  the 
American  Academy,"  justly  credits  the  Japanese  with 
public  spirit,  but  asserts  that  the  Japanese  in  Fresno 
declined  to  co-operate  with  the  police  in  the  cleansing 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   OUR  CITIES  121 

of  the  disorderly  quarters.  As  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  ascertain,  this  statement  is  not  quite  correct.  His 
uncle,  Dr.  Chester  Rowell,  physician,  philanthropist, 
publicist,  and  warm  sympathizer  with  the  Japanese,  could 
have  told  him,  had  he  been  alive,  just  how  the  situation 
was.  Instead  of  the  Japanese  being  reluctant  to  co- 
operate with  the  authorities  it  was  the  authorities  who 
declined  to  assist  the  Japanese.  The  disorderly  houses, 
where  unfortunate  Japanese  women  were  kept,  were  in 
the  heart  of  the  business  section  of  the  Japanese  quarters 
of  Fresno.  A  few  years  a.^o  the  Japanese  Association  and 
the  Japanese  Reform  Society,  seeing  in  this  condition  a 
menace  to  the  moral  integrity  of  the  Japanese  community, 
attempted  to  remove  the  "  red-light "  houses  to  the  out- 
skirts of  the  town,  but  when  they  solicited  the  approval 
and  assistance  of  the  Fresno  authorities  they  were  given 
a  cold  shoulder.  The  authorities  upon  one  excuse  or  an- 
other would  not  co-operate  with  the  Japanese  in  their 
efforts  to  purify  the  business  quarters,  and  without 
official  assistance  the  measure  could  not  be  carried 
out. 

It  should  be  the  duty  of  the  State  as  well  as  the  mu- 
nicipal authorities  to  enact  and  enforce  such  laws  as 
would  conduce  to  the  moral  and  material  betterment  of 
all  persons  under  their  jurisdictions.  Such  Chinatowns 
as  those  of  Walnut  Grove  and  Courtland  are  blots  upon 
the  fair  landscape  of  California  and  a  disgrace  to  the 
good  reputation  of  the  State.  I  do  not  see  why  there 
should  not  be  building  and  sanitary  laws  which  would 
prevent  the  appearance  of  such  horribly  unsanitary 
towns.  These  Chinatowns  had  sprung  up  before  the 
Japanese  came  to  work  on  the  fields  of  the  Sacramento 
Valley.  As  the  forces  of  Japanese  farmers  and  farm- 
hands grew  in  number,  Japanese  traders  naturally  fol- 


122  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

lowed  upon  their  heels,  and  looked  around  for  suitable 
locations  to  set  up  small  stores  and  shops.  They  found 
Chinatowns  already  established  in  advantageous  localities. 
Although  the  Japanese  entertained  little  sympathy  for 
the  Chinese,  ties  of  racial  kinship,  coupled  with  reasons 
of  trade  policy,  were  sufficient  to  draw  the  Japanese 
traders  to  Chinatowns.  The  Chinese  gambling  dens  were 
a  great  attraction  for  Japanese  labourers,  and  the  mer- 
chants evidently  thought  it  a  good  trade  policy  to  estab- 
lish themselves  close  to  Chinatown,  so  that  their  stores 
might  be  visited  by  those  who  would  frequent  the  gam- 
bling dens.  At  the  same  time,  the  Chinese  knew  that  the 
Japanese  were  indispensable  for  the  prosperity  of  their 
evil  business,  and  invited  Japanese  stores  and  restaurants 
and  amusement  houses  to  locate  in  their  neighbourhood. 
It  was  thus  that,  in  many  Chinatowns,  Chinese  and  Japa- 
nese became  neighbours.  The  worst  examples  of  this 
mingling  of  the  two  peoples  are  found  in  Walnut  Grove, 
Isleton,  and  Courtland. 

The  separation  of  the  Japanese  from  the  Chinatowns  is 
one  of  the  urgent  problems  which  the  Japanese  Associa- 
tions have  long  been  trying  to  solve.  As  in  many  an- 
other instance,  it  was  too  late  when  the  Japanese  awak- 
ened to  the  grave  significance  of  the  problem.  Where 
Japanese  quarters  are  separate  and  independent  of 
Chinese  sections,  they  are  usually  more  respectable  in 
appearance.  The  Japanese  quarter  in  Florin,  established 
before  the  Chinese  tried  to  settle  there,  has  never  had 
a  gambling  den  or  an  immoral  house.  Again  and  again 
the  Chinese  tried  to  sneak  in,  but  the  Japanese  Associa- 
tion, which  had  learned  good  lessons  from  examples 
shown  in  such  places  as  Walnut  Grove,  was  ever  on  the 
alert  to  keep  Chinese  out. 

In  Sacramento  and  Los  Angeles,  the  Japanese  quar- 


THE  JAPANESE   IN    OUR   CITIES  123 

ters  are  located  some  distance  from  Chinatown  and  com- 
pare favourably  with  other  foreign  quarters.  So  are  the 
Japanese  quarters  in  San  Francisco  and  Seattle.  In  all 
these  places  there  is.  of  course,  much  room  for  improve- 
ment, but  they  are  by  no  means  worse  than  the  quarters 
settled  by  immigrants  from  South  Europe  or  Russia.  In 
the  arrangement  of  stores  and  in  many  another  thing, 
the  Japanese  strive  to  conform  to  American  ways.  True, 
in  San  Francisco  the  Japanese  went  in  what  was  in 
former  days  a  good  residence  section  and  established 
small  stores,  laundry  shops,  and  boarding  houses.  They 
rented  houses  and  in  front  of  them  built  additions  to  be 
utilized  as  stores  and  shops.  But  this  peculiar  condi- 
tion in  San  Francisco  was  only  one  of  the  unfortunate 
results  of  the  great  earthquake.  When  the  greater  part 
of  the  city  was  destroyed  in  that  disaster,  the  Japanese, 
having  nowhere  else  to  go,  had  to  rent  houses  in  a  sec- 
tion formerly  occupied  by  Americans,  though  the  rents 
asked  were  exorbitant.  The  landlords  were  willing  to 
let  the  new  tenants  build  additions  for  business  purposes, 
as  that  meant  for  them  an  additional  source  of  income. 
But  for  the  disastrous  effects  of  the  earthquake  and  fire 
such  things  would  never  have  been  permitted.  At  the 
time,  the  setting  up  of  small  shops  and  stores  in  resi- 
dence sections  was  absolutely  necessary,  as  the  business 
quarters  were  all  but  wiped  out.  It  was  not  only  the 
Japanese  who  did  this  :  others,  both  Americans  and  aliens, 
did  exactly  the  same  thing.  But  the  Japanese  attracted 
more  attention,  because  they  put  up  peculiar  signs  over 
their  stores  and  painted  strange  characters  on  the  win- 
dows. Innocent  in  themselves,  these  exotic  sign-boards 
have  been  made  the  objects  of  severe  criticism  at  the 
hands  of  the  unsympathetic,  both  Americans  and  Japa- 
nese.    It  was,  therefore,  the  part  of  wisdom  that  the 


124  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

Japanese  Association  at  San  Francisco  started  a  cam- 
paign against  the  sign-boards. 

Of  the  total  Japanese  population  in  the  United  States, 
estimated  at  about  72,157,  some  23,000  live  in  the  city. 
Distributing  them  among  the  principal  cities,  we  obtain 
the  following  table: 

Los  Angeles  (Cal.) 7,938  Ogden               (Utah)  ..  200 

San  Francisco    "      6,988  Salt  Lake  City      "        . .  200 

Sacramento        "      2,452  Denver  (Col.)   752 

Oakland             "       1,835  Idaho  Falls  (Idaho)  ....  207 

San  Jose             "      790  Sugar                  "        ....  245 

Alameda             "      692  Rock  Springs  (Wyo.)  ..  195 

Berkeley             "       686  Chicago  (111.)  370 

Stockton             "      495  Omaha  (Neb.)   100 

Portland   (Ore.)    1,036  New  York  City  (N.  Y.)  1,300 

Seattle  (Wash.) 4,267  Brooklyn                    "  300 

Tacoma       "        865  Boston   (Mass.)    100 

Spokane       "        448 

The  majority  of  Japanese  in  cities  are  engaged  in  do- 
mestic work,  or  employed  in  stores,  Japanese  and  Ameri- 
can, in  various  capacities.  A  considerable  number  are 
also  engaged  in  mercantile  business.  In  the  Western 
cities  Japanese  stores,  with  the  exception  of  those  espe- 
cially dealing  with  fancy  or  art  goods,  primarily  aim  to 
cater  to  Japanese  customers.  Newcomers  from  Japan, 
unfamiliar  with  English,  find  it  convenient  to  buy  of 
Japanese  stores,  but  as  they  acquire  better  knowledge 
of  the  language,  they  discover  that  they  can  purchase 
better  goods  for  smaller  prices  at  American  stores. 

In  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  and  Oakland,  the  laun- 
dry business  is  one  of  the  principal  trades  of  the  Japa- 
nese. The  patrons  of  Japanese  laundries  are  mostly 
Americans.  They  charge  exactly  the  same  as  do  Ameri- 
can laundries,  but  the  dexterity  and  carefulness  which 
characterize  their  work  seem  to  draw  larger  and  larger 
patronage.  "  There  are  in  San  Francisco,"  says  Dr.  H. 
B.  Johnson  in  his  report  on  the  Pacific  Japanese  mis- 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   OUR  CITIES  125 

sion,  "  laundries  in  large  numbers  advertised  as  French, 
German,  Chinese,  etc.,  but  the  Japanese  laundries  are 
especially  prosperous  because  of  their  promptness  and 
good  work  at  prices  equal  to  the  best."  That  is  why  the 
American  laundrymen's  union  in  San  Francisco  has  been 
agitating  against  the  Japanese  laundry.  The  agitation 
resulted  this  year  in  the  introduction  in  the  State  legisla- 
ture of  a  number  of  bills  providing  for  the  prohibition 
of  the  Japanese  from  employing  steam  engines. 

A  popular  writer,  a  native  of  California,  in  a  most  sen- 
sational article,  says  that  "  the  peculiar  code  of  business 
morals  of  the  Japanese  makes  it  impossible  for  whites 
to  compete  with  them,"  and  adds : 

"  The  Japanese  are  not  confining  themselves  to  any  one 
business.  They  are  branching  out  in  all  directions. 
There  is  a  bookstore  in  San  Francisco  at  which  books 
may  be  bought  cheaper  than  at  other  places.  This  does 
not  please  the  American  bookseller." 

I  am  certain  that  this  man  never  bought  a  single  vol- 
ume of  this  Japanese  bookstore ;  if  he  had,  he  could  never 
have  made  such  an  irresponsible  statement.  That  book- 
store sells  Japanese  books  almost  exclusively;  what  few 
English  books  it  may  occasionally  handle  are  sold  ex- 
actly at  the  market  price.  As  for  the  general  commercial 
morals  of  the  Japanese,  I  have  already  discussed  the 
question  in  preceding  chapters,  and  shall  recur  to  it  in 
the  following  chapters. 

It  has  been  said,  as  a  reason  for  prohibiting  Japanese 
immigration,  that  where  Japanese  come  to  live,  Ameri- 
cans are  sure  to  go  away.  The  story  is  exaggerated, 
but  even  if  it  is  true,  can  such  be  said  of  the  Japanese 
alone?  Immigrants,  whether  Japanese  or  Europeans,  are 
more  or  less  despised  and  shunned  by  Americans  and 
older  settlers.    In  the  Polish  blocks  in  Chicago,  for  in- 


126  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

stance,  only  19  families  out  of  a  total  of  1,562  are  Ameri- 
can. Conditions  in  the  Jewish  and  Italian  sections  are 
about  the  same.  The  Latin  quarter  in  San  Francisco  is 
not  much  better  in  this  respect.  And  in  fairness  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  Japanese  quarter  in  any  American 
city  is  as  sanitary  and  clean  as  any  foreign  district,  if  not 
much  more  so.  Sanitary  officers  admit  that,  compared 
with  the  houses  occupied  by  immigrants  of  some  other 
races,  those  of  the  Japanese  are  in  far  better  condition. 
The  Japanese  quarters  are  neither  so  overcrowded  nor 
so  infested  with  filth  as  are  certain  other  quarters. 

When  in  1904  San  Francisco  was  threatened  with  the 
bubonic  plague,  the  sanitary  authorities  discovered  for 
the  first  time  the  horrible  condition  of  the  basements 
occupied  by  the  Chinese.  One  house  was  so  saturated 
with  filth  that  it  had  simply  to  be  condemned  and  torn 
down,  in  spite  of  the  strenuous  protests  of  the  American 
who  owned  it.  That  such  an  abominable  state  had  long 
been  permitted  to  remain  unquestioned  was,  however, 
largely  due  to  the  greed  of  the  landlords  and  the  in- 
efficiency and  supineness  of  the  sanitary  officers.  The 
Chinese  used  to  "  pay  up  "  the  police  in  order  to  be  let 
alone,  while  the  owner  carefully  avoided  the  premises, 
letting  his  agents  collect  all  the  lessee  would  bear. 

Wherever  the  blame  may  belong,  it  is  regrettable  that 
our  cities  should  permit  the  appearance  of  such  filthy 
quarters.  Whatever  the  defects  of  the  Japanese  in  other 
respects,  in  the  matter  of  sanitation  they  have  made  a 
good  showing.  True,  some  of  the  Japanese  lodging 
houses  may  be  found  somewhat  crowded,  but  none  is 
so  crowded  as  lodging  houses  of  other  immigrants.  As 
a  comparison  read  the  following  passages  from  the  re- 
ports of  the  Chicago  School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy 
for  191 1 : 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   OUR  CITIES  127 

"  The  trouble  with  housing  conditions  is  largely  that 
small  cottages  built  for  one  family  have  been  turned 
into  lodging  houses.  In  all  the  foreign  colonies  families 
feel  they  have  to  take  in  single  men  or  other  families 
as  lodgers  or  roomers.  This  leads  at  once  to  overcrowd- 
ing. In  Polish,  Lithuanian,  and  other  homes  one-half 
the  families  added  to  their  income  by  filling  up  their 
rooms  to  the  utmost  capacity  with  men  and  women  who 
were  too  new  to  this  country  to  realize  that  they  could 
demand  anything  more  than  a  place  to  sleep.  They  sleep 
on  the  floor,  both  with  and  without  mattresses,  and  sleep 
in  bed  with  people  who  are  total  strangers. 

"In  181  cases  of  those  investigated,  crowding,  caused 
by  poverty  and  improper  house  construction,  made  it  nec- 
essary for  one  member  of  the  family  to  sleep  in  the  lodg- 
ers* room  and  sometimes  in  the  same  bed.  In  sixty 
cases  two  members  of  the  family  slept  in  the  room  with 
the  lodger,  in  twenty-three  cases  there  were  three,  in 
nine  cases  four,  and  in  three  cases  five.  In  one  case  the 
lodger  slept  in  a  room  with  the  whole  family  of  seven. 
Sometimes  men  and  women  lodgers  slept  in  the  same 
room ;  in  other  cases  the  men  slept  in  a  room  which  could 
be  reached  only  by  passing  through  a  room  in  which  the 
women  slept. 

"  The  law  requires  4CX)  cubic  feet  of  air  space  for  each 
adult  and  200  cubic  feet  for  each  child.  In  3,730  cases 
investigated,  1,981  violations  of  this  ordinance  were 
found.  In  one  case  four  people  slept  in  a  room  con- 
taining only  333  cubic  feet,  a  room  that  could  have  been 
legally  occupied  by  only  a  child  of  twelve.  In  another 
case  five  slept  in  a  room  that  could  have  been  occupied 
legally  by  only  one  grown  person,  and  in  another  seven 
used  a  room  not  legal  for  two.  Of  rooms  with  no 
outer  window,  three  were  found  in  these  thirteen  blocks 


128  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

occupied  by  five  persons  each,  nine  occupied  by  four  per- 
sons each,  twenty-two  by  three  persons,  thirty-eight  by  two 
persons — a  total  of  223  persons  in  windowless  rooms." 

Compare  this  with  what  the  Immigration  Commission 
has  to  say  about  the  conditions  of  the  Japanese  quar- 
ters in  the  cities  of  CaHfornia.  Of  the  entire  mercantile 
establishments  and  work-shops  visited  by  the  agents  of 
the  commission,  81.8  per  cent,  were  reported  to  be  in 
"  good "  sanitary  condition,  while  16.6  per  cent,  were 
reported  "  fair."  Only  1.4  per  cent,  were  "  bad."  Again, 
as  to  the  sanitary  conditions  of  lodging  places,  68.5  per 
cent,  were  "  good,"  27.3  per  cent.  "  fair,"  and  4.2  per 
cent.  "  bad." 

The  general  appearance  of  Japanese  streets  in  our  cit- 
ies is  not  much  different  from  that  of  streets  lined  with 
houses  and  stores  occupied  by  Americans.  True,  there 
are  the  sign-boards  with  prominent  characters  in  gold, 
and  the  men  you  meet  there  speak  a  peculiar  language. 
But  here  again  comparison  is  necessary  before  any  hasty 
conclusion  as  to  the  unassimilability  of  the  Japanese 
is  made.  Go  to  the  "  Yiddisher  "  market  in  Chicago  and 
watch  the  uproar  of  bargaining  in  the  twenty-four  hours 
preceding  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  There  are  booths  and 
boxes  and  barrels  and  push-carts  and  wagons  laden  with 
all  things  imaginable  and  unimaginable,  and  among  them 
men,  women,  and  children  from  the  villages  and  ghettos 
of  Poland  and  Galicia  and  Roumania  are  vigorously  el- 
bowing one  another,  laughing,  shouting,  jabbering  in 
strange  tongues. 

Or  visit  the  Italian  quarter  in  Chicago  or  New  York, 
preferably  on  a  saint's  day.  Here  comes  a  procession 
of  devout  marchers,  each  carrying  a  huge  candle  tied 
with  ribbon  upon  which  is  pinned  American  paper  money 
for  a  votive  offering.    Presently  it  stops  before  a  shrine 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   OUR  CITIES  129 

within  which  the  Virgin  sits  serenely.  Beside  the  shrine 
and  upon  the  platform  stands  a  priest,  receiving  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  pious  men  and  women  so  that  the  young 
souls  may  kiss  the  Virgin.  As  each  child  receives  the 
sacramental  kiss  its  parents  raise  an  exclamation  of  de- 
light and  hand  to  the  priest  paper  money  as  a  token  of 
thanks.  How  poetical,  how  picturesque,  how  beautiful 
it  all  is,  if  we  look  at  it  with  sympathy !  And  yet  what 
would  the  Americans  say  if  it  were  the  Japanese,  instead 
of  a  European  race,  which  perpetuated  such  a  foreign 
custom  in  our  midst?  In  the  one  case  it  is  tolerated,  if 
not  particularly  admired ;  in  the  other  it  will  be  made  the 
target  of  severest  criticism. 

With  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  the  Pacific  Coast 
will  no  doubt  receive  large  contingents  of  European  im- 
migrants— Poles,  Jews,  Russians,  Italians,  Greeks,  Lithu- 
anians, Slovacs,  and  what  not.  Should  this  expectation 
materialize,  its  principal  cities  will  inevitably  witness  the 
appearance  of  Ghettos  and  Boweries  and  other  foreign 
quarters  such  as  have  been  established  in  New  York  and 
Chicago,  since  many  of  such  immigrants  have  a  strong 
inclination  to  dwell  in  the  city,  instead  of  seeking  agri- 
cultural work  in  the  country.  And  when  that  time  comes 
the  cities  on  the  Pacific  Coast  will  face  a  problem  much 
more  serious  than  the  Japanese  question  has  ever  been  or 
will  ever  be. 

As  I  write  I  recall  the  atrocities  perpetrated  by  one 
of  the  Black  Hand  bands  in  Chicago.  Within  the  past 
twelve  months  this  gang  took  thirty  lives  with  "  sawed- 
off  shotguns  "  and  poisons,  used  more  than  a  hundred  in- 
fernal machines  to  terrorize  those  refusing  to  pay  blood 
money,  set  houses  on  fire  entailing  a  damage  of  $300,- 
cxx),  and  passed  forged  checks  amounting  to  more  than 
$150,000.      In    comparison    with    such    terrible    crimes 


130  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

among  Italian  immigrants,  gambling  among  Japanese  la- 
bourers is  almost  an  innocent  affair.  Again  I  think  of 
the  Hatchet  Men  who  are  Chinese  criminals  sneaking  into 
this  country  and  subsisting  by  blackmail  upon  wealthy 
merchants  and  upon  houses  of  prostitution,  and  by  gam- 
bling and  assassination.  Their  chief  business  is  to  in- 
timidate, and  often  murder,  those  who  are  obnoxious 
to  themselves  or  to  whomsoever  may  hire  them.  In  the 
face  of  such  terrors  the  Japanese  communities  in  Ameri- 
can cities  may  console  themselves,  if  they  have  a  few 
fallen  women  to  grapple  with. 

The  agents  of  the  Federal  Government  who  took  the 
census  in  California  were  struck  with  the  intelligence 
and  civility  displayed  by  the  Japanese  residents.  In  con- 
trast to  the  suspicion  and  fear  with  which  immigrants 
from  certain  European  countries  received  the  agents,  the 
civility  and  open-heartedness  which  characterized  the 
attitude  of  the  Japanese  towards  the  census-takers  were 
remarkable.  In  many  cases  such  European  immigrants 
could  not  understand  the  mission  of  the  agents,  and  acted 
as  one  confronted  by  a  detective  or  a  police  officer.  Not 
infrequently,  I  was  told,  they  would  even  slam  the  door 
in  the  face  of  the  agent.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Japa- 
nese invariably  received  them  politely  and  in  friendly 
feeling,  and  answered  all  questions  asked  with  perfect 
ease  and  willingness.  If  one  cares  to  dive  into  the  mazes 
of  statistics  in  the  census,  one  will  notice  the  small  rate 
of  illiteracy  among  the  Japanese  in  this  country.  In 
this  respect  the  Japanese  certainly  compare  favourably 
with  many  of  the  European  immigrants.  If  there  be  any 
need  for  restricting  immigration,  such  restrictions  should 
be  based  upon  reasons  other  than  racial  ones.  Legisla- 
tion springing  from  racial  bias  awakens  enmity  and  is 
jeopardizing  to  international  amity. 


VIII 

"  HEWERS  OF  WOOD  AND  DRAWERS  OF 
WATER  " 

A  COLONEL  SAMUEL  JOHNSON  had  a  lumber 
mill  at  Pahoa,  Hawaii.  One  day  last  year  the  plant 
was  destroyed  by  fire.  Johnson  summoned  before 
him  his  four  hundred  employes,  all  Japanese,  and  said: 
'*  We  have  lost  everything,  and  have  no  money  to  pay 
you  at  least  for  a  month  or  two.  But  I  am  determined 
to  rebuild  the  business.  How  many  of  yoG  boys  would 
stay  with  me  and  help  me  through  the  months  of  strug- 
gle ?  I  cannot  urge  you  to  stay  under  the  circumstances, 
but  I  shall  be  thankful  if  you  feel  disposed  to  do  me 
service." 

Without  a  moment's  hesitation  the  four  hundred  men 
answered  as  in  a  chorus,  "  I  shall  not  leave  you !  *' 

The  colonel  quivered  with  emotion  and  almost  burst 
into  tears.  He  had  counted  upon  the  sympathy  of  at 
least  some  of  the  boys,  but  had  never  dreamed  that  all 
the  four  hundred  would  stand  by  him  with  such  unflinch- 
ing loyalty.  In  a  letter  to  the  editor  of  a  Japanese  news- 
paper in  Honolulu,  he  described  the  mingled  feeling  of 
amazement,  admiration,  and  gratefulness  which  he  ex- 
perienced at  this  unusual  demonstration  of  unselfish  de- 
votion on  the  part  of  the  workingmen  whom  he  had 
always  regarded  as  ignorant  and  mercenary  and  whose 
souls  he  had  never  tried  to  fathom.  The  incident  threw 
a  new  light  into  the  colonel's  mind,  and  converted  him 

131 


132  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

into  a  sympathetic  and  appreciative  employer  eager  to 
know  more  of  his  men. 

The  story  furnishes  an  apt  illustration  of  the  pecu- 
liarity of  Japanese  character.  Essentially  an  emotional 
race,  the  Japanese  appreciates  kindness  as  keenly  as  he 
resents  unkindly  acts.  Take  him  into  your  confidence, 
open  your  heart  to  him,  and  he  is  ready  to  "  follow  you 
through  fire  and  flood,"  as  a  Japanese  proverb  says.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  you  deal  suspiciously  with  him  or  try 
to  manage  him  with  a  show  of  authority,  he  puts  him- 
self on  his  guard,  and  becomes  intractable. 

Perhaps  I  am  not  exactly  right  in  stating  that  this 
responsiveness  is  the  characteristic  of  the  Japanese.  Hu- 
man nature  is  the  same  the  world  over.  The  world  over 
kindness  and  sincerity  beget  friendship,  while  insincerity 
and  unkindly  acts  reap  antipathy.  Yet  the  individualism 
of  the  West  brought  into  prominent  relief  the  idea  of 
right  and  duty,  while  the  communalism  of  the  Orient 
developed  benevolent  paternalism  on  the  one  hand,  and 
loving  submission  on  the  other.  In  this  age  of  steam 
and  electricity  the  barrier  between  the  East  and  the 
West  is  crumbling  down.  Moreover,  when  the  Japanese 
labourer  comes  to  this  country  of  freedom^  he  seems  to 
feel  a  certain  reaction  from  the  age-long  restraint  to 
which  he  subjected  himself  in  his  native  country,  and 
is  liable  to  hold  the  sense  of  duty  secondary  to  that  of 
right.  Yet  now  and  then  the  soul  of  the  passing  Orient 
asserts  itself  in  the  characteristic  manner,  as  in  the 
above  story. 

The  type  of  immigrants  is  usually  judged  from  that  of 
the  labouring  class,  which  constitute  by  far  the  largest 
portion  of  immigrants.  It  is  commonly  admitted  that 
the  Japanese,  as  a  people,  are  alert  and  keen-minded. 
This  general  characterization  is  no  less  true  as  applied 


"HEWERS    OF   WOOD;    DRAWERS    OF   WATER"     133 

to  the  labouring  class.  Once  a  Japanese  labourer  per- 
ceives that  he  is  unjustly  dealt  with  or  beguiled  into  ac- 
cepting unreasonable  terms,  he  will  see  to  it  that  his 
employer  regrets  the  unwise  course  he  has  taken.  In  the 
early  days  of  Japanese  immigration  to  America,  some 
employers  or  landowners,  unaware  of  this  characteristic, 
took  advantage  of  ignorance  of  English  on  the  part  of 
Japanese  labourers,  and  imposed  upon  them  contracts 
which  the  employers  knew  could  not  be  carried  out  with- 
out entailing  a  loss  to  the  Japanese.  When  the  Japa- 
nese, finding  it  impossible  to  fulfil  the  contract,  were 
compelled  to  abandon  it,  they  were  charged  with  lack 
of  business  honour.  To  be  sure,  the  Japanese  were  much 
to  blame,  but  were  not  the  men  who  knowingly  imposed 
such  unreasonable  contracts  even  more  dishonourable? 
Many  of  the  disputes  between  the  Japanese  and  Ameri- 
cans in  the  earlier  days  were  caused  in  this  way.  Espe- 
cially is  this  true  in  the  case  of  farming  contracts  on 
the  Pacific  Coast.  The  unhappy  experience  made  both 
the  Americans  and  the  Japanese  wiser,  and  of  late  years 
troubles  of  this  nature  are  of  rare  occurrence.  To-day 
the  Japanese,  knowing  that  all  Americans  are  not  true 
Christians  as  he  had  thought,  has  the  contract  examined 
by  experienced  interpreters  before  signing  his  name  to 
the  document,  while  the  American,  having  awakened  to 
the  folly  of  unfair  dealings,  tries  to  be  fair  and 
honourable. 

The  most  important  class  of  Japanese  labourers  in 
this  country  is  farm  labourers.  In  California  alone  Japa- 
nese agricultural  labourers  number  almost  30,000,  while 
those  in  other  Western  States  total  about  9,000.  Next  in 
importance  are  railroad  labourers,  of  whom  there  are  some 
10,000  on  the  Pacific  Coast  and  in  the  adjacent  States. 
Of  lumber-mill  labourers  there  are  about  2,200,  while 


134  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

salmon  cannery  labourers  number  some  3,600.  In  the 
mines  of  Wyoming,  Utah,  Southern  Colorado,  and  New- 
Mexico  there  are  some  2,000  Japanese,  while  one  or  two 
hundred  are  employed  in  the  smelters.  Add  to  this  a 
contingent  of  domestic  workers,  whose  number  on  the 
Pacific  Coast  is  estimated  at  14,000,  and  we  have  a  fair 
classification  of  Japanese  labourers  by  occupation. 

First,  as  to  farm  labour.  In  1909  the  State  of  Cali- 
fornia instituted  a  special  investigation  into  the  status 
of  Japanese  agricultural  labourers.  Upon  the  comple- 
tion of  the  investigation  the  Commission  came  to  this 
conclusion :  "  It  is  not  mere  opinion,  based  upon  con- 
sensus of  observations,  no  theory  predicted  on  an  analy- 
sis of  conditions  and  requirements,  but  the  positive  ex- 
pression of  a  majority  of  the  growers  of  fruits  and  such 
products  as  are  affected  by  the  demand  that  Japanese 
labour  must  continue  to  be  drawn  from  sources  beyond 
the  United  States.  The  competency  of  both  Chinese 
and  Japanese  to  meet  all  the  requirements  by  these  in- 
dustries of  the  orchard,  the  vineyard,  and  the  field  is 
unquestioned  and  unquestionable."  The  Commission 
also  stated  that,  "  comparing  the  individual  Japanese  la- 
bourer and  the  individual  white  labourer  of  the  typical 
class  that  is  now  available  in  the  field  and  from  which 
is  recruited  all  the  white  help  now  obtainable,  the  in- 
vestigation discloses  a  higher  standard  of  the  Japanese 
individual." 

The  investigation  dissipated  the  studiously  circulated 
idea  that  Japanese  labourers  underbid  white  labourers. 
In  order  to  confirm  the  views  of  the  California  Commis- 
sion, I  avail  myself  of  the  result  of  the  exhaustive  in- 
vestigation made  by  the  Immigration  Commission  of 
which  Senator  Dillingham  was  chairman.  We  learn  that 
"  the  average  wages  for  both  Japanese  and  Chinese  regu- 


"HEWERS   OF   WOOD;    DRAWERS   OF   WATER"     135 

larly  employed  and  receiving  board,  respectively,  are 
higher  than  those  for  miscellaneous  white  men  and  Ital- 
ians." Where  labourers  were  employed  without  board, 
miscellaneous  white  men  were  paid  higher  than  were  the 
Japanese.  Further  details  of  the  comparison  are  shown 
in  the  following  table: 


Race 


Miscellaneous  white 

Italian 

Mexican , 

Chinese 

Japanese 

Hindu , 


Regular 

Regular 
without 

Tempo- 

with 

rary  with 

Board 

Board 

Board 

Average 

Average 

Average 

$1,311 

$1,889 

$1,286 

1. 108 

1.667 
1.422 

1.121 

1.406 

1.559 

1-454 

1.396 

1.633 
1.534 

1.421 

Temporary 
without 
Board 

Average 


$1,855 


X.721 

1.743 
1. 615 
1. 44 1 


In  the  consideration  of  alleged  Japanese  competition 
with  white  labour,  it  is  essential  to  remember  that  the 
Japanese  are  employed  mostly  in  the  kind  of  labour  dis- 
liked and  shunned  by  white  workingmen.  This  fact  is 
clearly  brought  out  in  the  Fourteenth  Biennial  Report 
of  the  Bureau  of  Labour  Statistics  of  California.  More 
than  ninety  per  cent,  of  labour  required  in  berry  and 
vegetable  picking  and  celery  culture  is  supplied  by  Japa- 
nese. More  than  eighty  per  cent,  of  labourers  employed 
in  the  beet  industry  as  toppers,  loaders,  hoers,  and  thin- 
ners are  also  Japanese.  Japanese  employed  in  grape 
picking  and  the  pruning  of  fruit  trees  constitute  more 
than  seventy  per  cent,  of  the  total  men  employed  in  this 
field,  while  some  fifty-five  per  cent,  of  fruit  pickers  are 
also  Japanese. 

The  reason  for  the  phenomenal  advance  which  the 
Japanese  have  made  in  these  fields  is  obvious.    Work  in 


136  ASIA   AT   THE   DOOR 

these  branches  of  farming  is  mostly  performed  by  hand, 
and  handworlc  is  more  congenial  to  the  Japanese  than 
to  the  whites.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  picking  of  grapes, 
strawberries,  and  vegetables,  and  the  thinning  of  beets 
and  celeries  require  a  stooping  attitude  which  is  not  natu- 
ral to  the  Caucasian.  To  the  Japanese,  however,  stoop- 
ing or  kneeling  is  not  very  difficult,  partly  because  of  his 
short  stature  and  his  limber  body,  partly  because  he  was 
accustomed,  while  in  his  native  country,  to  farming  with- 
out machinery.  In  grape  picking,  for  instance,  a  white 
labourer  can  pick  only  one-third  of  what  a  Japanese 
harvests  in  a  day.  The  white  labourers,  naturally  averse 
to  this  kind  of  work,  reluctantly,  if  not  gladly,  assigned 
it  to  the  Japanese.  If  the  whites  were  to  be  substituted 
for  the  Japanese,  the  cost  of  producing  these  fruits  and 
vegetables  would  be  so  greatly  increased  that  the  growers 
would  have  to  abandon  the  industry. 

In  those  branches  of  the  fruit  industry  in  which  stoop- 
ing is  not  necessary  or  in  which  machinery  is  more  im- 
portant than  handwork,  the  white  labourer  still  main- 
tains supremacy.  In  fruit  packing  Japanese  labour  em- 
ployed is  less  than  twenty-five  per  cent.,  while  in  hop 
picking  it  is  only  ten  per  cent.  In  team  work  and  fruit 
cutting  Japanese  labourers  employed  are  only  five  per 
cent,  of  the  total  number  of  men  engaged  in  those  fields. 
After  all,  Japanese  monopoly  of  labour  in  the  picking 
of  grapes  and  berries,  and  in  the  culture  of  certain  vege- 
tables, is  the  outcome  of  natural  and  expedient  distri- 
bution of  labour,  a  process  placing  the  right  man  in  the 
right  place  and  thus  securing  the  highest  degree  of  effi- 
ciency. "  Between  the  available  white  farm  labourer," 
says  a  California  vineyardist,  "  and  the  available  Japanese 
labourer,  the  Japanese  is  by  far  the  better.  For  a  day's 
wage  he  will  do  a  day's  work,  and  adapt  himself  to  disa- 


"HEWERS   OF   WOOD;    DRAWERS   OF   WATER"     I37 

greeable  conditions  which  the  white  man  will  not.  His 
wage  is  as  high  as  that  of  the  white  man,  for  the  farmer 
wants  efficiency." 

Outside  of  California,  Japanese  farmhands  are  not 
a  very  important  factor.  True,  there  are  a  considerable 
number  of  them  in  Washington  employed  in  strawberry 
culture  on  Vashon  Island,  in  the  dairy  industry  in  the 
White  River  Valley,  and  on  the  potato  farms  in  North 
Yakima;  yet  in  this  State  no  hostile  feeling  has  been 
displayed  by  the  white  workingmen  towards  the  Japa- 
nese. In  other  States  agricultural  labour  supplied  by 
Japanese  is  but  a  negligible  quantity. 

When  Mr.  John  D.  Mackenzie,  commissioner  of  la- 
bour statistics  of  California,  instituted  at  the  direction 
of  the  State  legislature  a  special  investigation  into  the 
conditions  of  Japanese  in  the  Golden  State,  one  of  the 
surprising  facts  disclosed  was  that  almost  every  Japa- 
nese, whether  a  farmer  or  a  farmhand,  had  in  his  pos- 
session English-Japanese  dictionaries  and  conversation 
books.  All  were  eager  to  learn  English,  and  through 
the  knowledge  of  the  language  American  customs  and 
institutions.  Many  of  them  subscribed  to  local  English 
papers,  while  their  favourite  magazines  were  not  fiction 
magazines,  but  such  substantial  publications  as  the  Out- 
look, the  Independent,  the  Review  of  Reviews,  and  the 
Literary  Digest.  The  United  States  census  states  that 
fifty-five  per  cent,  of  those  Japanese  who  have  been  in 
this  country  less  than  five  years  can  speak  English. 
Among  those  who  have  lived  here  more  than  five  years 
the  rate  of  illiteracy  is  very  small.  "  Among  the  Japa- 
nese population  in  Florin,"  says  Miss  Alice  M.  Brown, 
a  California  vineyardist  and  a  student  of  sociological 
problems,  "  there  are  few  who  have  not  a  very  fair 
knowledge  of  English  and  a  considerable  number  who  can 


138  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

speak  it  well.  Some  are  well  educated,  having  high- 
school  training,  others  pore  over  English  books  after 
a  hard  day's  work  to  acquire  a  reading  and  writing 
knowledge/'  The  Japanese  are  as  steady  in  the  pursuit 
of  knowledge  as  they  are  industrious  as  tillers  of  the  soil. 
"  Compare  this  industry  of  the  Japanese,"  says  Mr.  L. 
M.  Landsborough,  of  Florin,  in  a  letter  addressed  to 
the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  California  legislature, 
"  with  the  so-called  white  farm  labourers.  Here  to-day, 
gone  to-morrow,  but  always  to  be  found  at  the  wayside 
groggery,  not  '  sending  their  money  out  of  the  country,' 
as  anti- Japanese  agitators  insinuate  with  regard  to  the 
Japanese,  but  leaving  it  where  it  will  do  the  most  harm 
and  leaving  their  brains  with  it." 

So  much  for  the  farmhand.  I  now  introduce  Japa- 
nese railroad  labourers.  Of  the  10,000  Japanese  now 
employed  by  various  railway  companies,  some  7,000  are 
section  hands.  Companies  which  employ  the  largest  num- 
ber of  Japanese  are  perhaps  the  Great  Northern  Rail- 
way Company  and  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  Com- 
pany. Especially  does  the  Great  Northern  show  a  pref- 
erence for  the  Japanese.  All  along  its  lines  from  the 
Pacific  Coast  to  Havre,  Montana,  Japanese  are  seen 
working  with  Greeks  and  Italians. 

But  the  Japanese  are  not  employed  merely  as  section 
hands,  working  with  picks  and  shovels.  No  less  than 
one  hundred  are  employed  by  the  company  as  section 
foremen,  each  having  under  him  a  gang  of  some  fifty 
men,  Japanese,  Italians,  Mexicans,  and  Greeks.  Indeed, 
it  is  thought-provoking  to  see  labourers  from  South  Eu- 
rope contentedly  working  under  the  supervision  of  Orien- 
tals. Here  at  least  the  proud  West  surrendered  its 
vaunted  superiority  before  the  efficiency  and  ability  dem- 
onstrated  by   an   Oriental    race,   which   has   long  been 


"HEWERS    OF   WOOD;    DRAWERS    OF   WATER"     139 

regarded  as  backward  or  inferior.  To  the  unsympa- 
thetic, the  picture  presented  must  be  a  gloomy  one — it 
may  appeal  to  him  as  the  beginning  of  the  white  man's 
defeat  in  the  struggle  for  supremacy  in  world  competi- 
tion. To  the  sympathetic  and  to  the  optimist,  it  is  but 
a  milestone  on  the  road  leading  to  the  true  fraternity 
among  the  races  and  the  realization  of  human  brother- 
hood and  equality. 

The  present  advantageous  position  of  the  Japanese  as 
railroad  labourers  was  not  attained  without  vicissitudes 
and  hardships.  Indeed,  the  story  of  the  conflict  and  the 
eventual  harmony  which  marked  the  contact  of  the  Japa- 
nese with  other  races  in  the  Pacific  Northwest  indicates 
the  course  which  the  confluence  of  human  streams  usu- 
ally takes.  When  the  Japanese  section  hands  were  first 
brought  to  Montana  and  the  interior  regions  of  Wash- 
ington, some  twenty  years  ago,  cowboys  and  mountain- 
eers who  had  never  seen  a  Japanese  showed  intense 
hatred  towards  them.  Riots  and  shooting  were  almost 
the  order  of  the  day.  Camps  occupied  by  Japanese  were 
shot  at  and  often  set  on  fire.  Two  or  three  Japanese 
were  lynched,  while  many  were  captured  and  subjected 
to  cruel  treatment. 

But  the  Japanese  boss  who  handled  the  situation  was 
a  shrewd  strategist  and  a  man  of  undaunted  courage. 
Step  by  step  he  captured  the  bulwarks  of  the  cowboys 
and  their  allies,  not  by  powder  and  ball,  but  by  shrewd 
diplomacy  and  skilful  manoeuvre.  Here  is  a  typical  story. 
Once  he  led  a  body  of  section  hands  into  a  small  town 
on  the  foothills  of  the  Cascades.  The  townsfolk  received 
the  Japanese  in  the  characteristic  fashion  of  the  fron- 
tiersman, shouting  oaths  and  displaying  guns  to  intimi- 
date the  strange  intruders.  But  the  Japanese  boss  proved 
himself  the  equal  of  his  adversaries.     He  strode  rough- 


I40  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

shod  out  of  the  car  and  ordered  his  boys  to  follow  him. 
The  belligerent  villagers  thought  he  was  going  to  accept 
the  challenge,  but,  to  their  astonishment,  the  Japanese  boss 
marched  his  men  into  a  saloon  near  by.  The  mob  fol- 
lowed him,  breathing  threats  and  uttering  foul  words. 
Having  entered  the  saloon,  the  Japanese  drew  a  fifty- 
dollar  gold  piece  and  tossed  it  upon  the  counter,  saying : 
"  Here,  boss,  I  want  you  to  call  in  those  fellows  outside 
and  give  them  anything  they  want;  if  that  isn't  enough, 
here  is  more,"  and  he  threw  another  fifty-dollar  gold 
piece  upon  the  counter.  The  saloon-keeper,  amazed  and 
bewildered,  did  as  the  Japanese  told  him.  In  came  the 
fellows  who  wanted  to  fight,  and  without  giving  their 
Japanese  host  a  chance  to  say  a  word  emptied  the  glasses 
on  the  counter.  But  they  knew  what  the  glasses  were 
for,  and  when  they  were  done  with  them  they  shook 
hands  with  the  Japanese,  and  said :  "  You  Japs  are  all 
right!  We  won't  fight  you  any  more."  And  they 
never  did. 

When  Japanese  labourers  come  in  close  contact  with 
the  white  workingman  they  usually  become  good  friends. 
It  is  only  when  the  professional  agitator  enters  the  field 
that  their  amicable  relations  are  disturbed.  With  the 
temperament  of  the  Japanese  fairly  well  understood, 
there  seems  no  reason  why  Americans  could  not  be 
friendly  towards  him.  Let  me  tell  you  another  story. 
About  twenty  years  ago  Cutbank,  a  small  Montana  town 
on  the  main  line  of  the  Great  Northern  Railway,  wit- 
nessed for  the  first  time  the  advent  of  Japanese  labourers. 
The  citizens  of  the  town  naturally  objected  to  their  com- 
ing and  lodged  a  protest  with  the  railway  company.  The 
company,  instead  of  lending  ear  to  the  protest,  threat- 
ened to  isolate  the  town  by  removing  the  track,  if  the 
townsfolk  were  so  finical  about  the  section  hands  whom 


"HEWERS   OF   WOOD;    DRAWERS   OF   WATER"    141 

the  company  liked  best.  So  the  Japanese  were  tolerated 
and  permitted  to  stay.  Gradually  the  merchants  and 
residents  of  Cutbank  perceived  the  amiable  nature  of 
the  Japanese  and  began  to  like  them.  A  few  years  later 
the  Japanese,  dissatisfied  with  the  treatment  of  the  com- 
pany, went  on  a  strike.  Then  the  railway  company 
threatened  to  discharge  all  Japanese  and  substitute 
Greeks  and  Italians.  Alarmed  by  this,  the  people  of  Cut- 
bank  petitioned  the  railway  company  to  retain  the  Japa- 
nese, who  they  knew  were  much  more  desirable  than 
either  Greeks  or  Italians.  What  a  radical  change  a  few 
years  of  contact  with  the  Japanese  brought  upon  the 
sentiment  of  the  residents  of  the  Montana  town ! 

I  have  chiefly  dealt  with  my  personal  observations,  and 
those  of  Americans  and  Japanese  who  personally  handled 
the  Japanese  railroad  labourers.  We  may  for  a  moment 
turn  to  public  documents.  The  Reports  of  the  United 
States  Immigration  Commission  have  this  to  say :  "  With 
few  exceptions,  the  Japanese  are  preferred  to  the  Greeks, 
who  are  invariably  ranked  the  least  desirable  section 
hands,  because  they  are  not  industrious  and  are  in- 
tractable and  difficult  to  control.  As  between  Japanese 
and  Italians,  opinion  is  fairly  evenly  divided.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  them  and  the  Slavs."  Professor  Jenks, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  Immigration  Commission,  cor- 
roborates the  above  statement  in  these  words :  "  The 
road  masters  and  section  foremen  generally  prefer  the 
Japanese  either  to  Italians,  Greeks,  or  Slavs  as  section 
hands.  In  railway  shops  they  are  given  a  higher  rank 
than  the  Mexicans,  Greeks,  and  at  times  than  the  Ital- 
ians." As  to  wages,  the  reports  inform  us  that  the  Japa- 
nese are  paid  just  as  much  as  any  white  man  employed 
in  the  same  capacity. 

The  third  important  group  of  Japanese  labourers,  from 


142  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

the  numerical  point  of  view,  is  domestic  workers,  num- 
bering some  15,000.  Of  late  Japanese  of  this  class  have 
been  made  targets  of  scathing  criticisms,  some  of  which 
are  not  without  ground.  As  an  example  of  such  criti- 
cisms, I  quote  the  following  from  the  pen  of  a  writer 
who  apparently  prefers  to  be  interesting  rather  than 
truthful : 

"  From  the  earliest  ripple  of  the  Japanese  invasion, 
there  came  a  lot  of  adventurous  boys,  eager  either  to 
grasp  a  fortune  out  of  the  Land  of  Opportunity  or  to 
learn  European  ways  and  industrial  methods  that  they 
might  go  back  to  Japan  and  practise  them.  Their  ambi- 
tion, their  desire  to  get  on,  were  commendable;  their 
methods  of  gratifying  that  ambition,  contemptible.  For 
they  were  no  more  honest,  no  more  faithful  to  their  con- 
tracts, than  the  farming  Japanese.  .  .  .  Curious,  enter- 
prising, industrious,  taking  every  means  to  get  ahead, 
they  came  to  impress  the  city-dwelling  Californian  as  a 
nuisance." 

There  is  in  the  temperament  of  this  writer  something 
radically  different  from  the  generosity,  large-hearted- 
ness,  and  tolerance  which  I  believe  constitute  the  quality 
of  the  true  American.  I  am,  however,  inclined  to  agree 
with  him  that  the  Japanese  does  not  make  an  ideal  serv- 
ant like  the  Chinese.  I  am  glad  of  the  fact,  and  hope 
the  time  will  soon  come  when  no  American  will  employ 
any  Japanese  as  servant.  Domestic  work  is  not  man's 
work.  No  ambitious,  aspiring,  restless  race  can  produce 
ideal  men-servants. 

The  trouble  is  that  Japanese  servants  are  yet  much  in 
demand.  Except  in  certain  sections  of  California,  where 
constant  anti-Japanese  agitation  has  made  them  in- 
tractable, they  are  still  regarded  as  desirable  domestic 
workers.     If  they  are  somewhat  independent  and  are 


"HEWERS   OF   WOOD;    DRAWERS   OF   WATER"     143 

eager  to  "  get  on,"  the  white  servants  are  much  worse. 
From  my  personal  experience  I  can  understand  why  so 
many  Americans  prefer  "  unreliable "  Japanese  boys. 
Since  I  made  my  home  in  this  country,  I  have  employed 
servants  of  various  nationalities  and  races — Japanese, 
Danes,  Poles,  Swedes,  Americans,  etc.,  and  I  do  not 
know  but  that  the  Japanese  boy  is  the  best  worker  we 
have  had.  When  we  engage  a  white  girl  we  ask  if  she 
can  cook.  She  answers  in  the  affirmative,  and  we  fix  her 
wages  accordingly ;  but  when  she  comes  to  work  we  find 
her  culinary  abilities  so  limited  that  at  the  end  of  each 
meal  we  have  to  breathe  a  sigh  of  relief.  The  worst  of 
it  is  that  she  never  admits  her  ignorance  and  persistently 
declines  to  ask  the  "  lady  of  the  house  "  how  things 
should  be  done.  The  Japanese  boy,  if  inexperienced,  at 
least  tries  to  do  his  best,  poring  over  his  cook  book  and 
watching  what  the  mistress  does.  His  earnest  efforts 
are  all  the  more  commendable  because  in  most  cases 
housework  is  not  his  permanent  occupation,  but  only  a 
means  for  attaining  his  end  of  receiving  higher  education. 
The  white  girl  is  indifferent  and  would  think  of  her  beaux 
and  the  dance  and  dress,  rather  than  study  the  art  of 
housekeeping,  an  art  which  she  will  have  to  practise 
through  her  life.  We  engage  her  upon  the  understand- 
ing that  she  is  to  stay  with  us  for  a  certain  time,  but 
her  promise  is  of  little  worth.  A  factory  offers  a  better 
wage  or  a  store  promises  shorter  hours,  and  she  leaves 
us  on  a  moment's  notice. 

But  we  must  not  strive  to  behold  the  mote  in  others' 
eyes,  when  there  may  be  the  beam  in  our  own.  We  can 
be  lenient  with  our  servants  when  we  consider  that  our 
own  daughters,  if  unfortunately  placed  in  a  similar  posi- 
tion, may  do  exactly  as  the  girls  whom  we  are  at  times 
inclined  to  consider  a  nuisance.    The  chief  fault  of  the 


144  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

censor  of  Japanese  domestic  labourers  is  that  he  expects 
Japanese  to  be  superhuman — something  infinitely  better 
than  any  white  servant. 

There  seem  to  be  two  classes  of  Japanese  domestic 
workers.  One  consists  of  so-called  "  schoolboys,"  who 
work  short  hours  and  have  the  privilege  of  attending 
school.  Sometimes  the  schoolboy  works  all  day  and  re- 
ceives a  full  wage,  but  his  housework  is  only  a  means  to 
gratifying  his  ambition  to  enter  school.  The  other  class 
consists  of  labourers,  pure  and  simple,  who  cherish  no 
ambition  to  receive  higher  education.  Where  a  Japa- 
nese works  full  working  day  his  wages  vary  from  $35 
to  $45  per  month,  the  average  being  much  higher  than 
wages  paid  female  whites  in  similar  occupations.  The 
statement  especially  concerns  the  Pacific  Coast  and  should 
not  be  applied  to  other  sections  without  some  qualifi- 
cations. 

If  we  are  bent  upon  finding  fault  with  the  Japanese, 
volumes  may  be  written.  But  fault-finding  is  neither  edi- 
fying nor  profitable.  "  Enter  not  into  judgment  with  thy 
servant,  for  in  thy  sight  shall  no  man  living  be  justified." 
But  there  are  people  who  revel  in  finding  fault.  To  such 
people  even  those  qualities  which  would  constitute  a  vir- 
tue in  an  American  must,  if  found  in  a  Japanese,  appear 
reprehensible.  "  I  do  not  want  to  see,"  says  Senator 
Boynton  of  California,  "  Japanese  own  a  foot  of  land  in 
California.  If  they  come  here  only  to  work  for  us,  it 
will  be  all  right."  Yes,  it  would  be  all  right  for  the 
senator  if  the  Japanese  remained  for  ever  in  a  state  of 
serfdom.  But  the  clarion  note  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence rings  clear  in  our  ears :  "  All  men  are  created 
equal." 


IX 

CALIFORNIA  AND  THE  JAPANESE 

A  S  late  as  1883  a  popular  American  writer,  who  evi- 
^^■^dently  cared  to  excite  laughter  rather  than  pro- 
voke thought,  dubbed  California  "  a  country  where 
the  places  are  all  saints  and  the  people  are  all  sinners." 
What  glowing  tribute  would  this  very  writer  have  paid 
the  Golden  State  had  he  lived  to  witness  the  unparalleled 
progress  which  she  has  achieved  within  the  past  few  dec- 
ades. Instead  of  disparaging  her  so  impudently  as  he 
did,  he  would  have  inscribed  to  her  the  words  of  Bishop 
Berkeley : 

"Westward  the  star  of  empire  takes  its  way: 
The  first  four  acts  already  past, 
The  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  of  the  day, 
The  noblest  and  the  last !  " 

Not  only  has  California  astonished  the  world  with  the 
rapidity  of  its  material  progress,  but  it  is  marching 
abreast  with  the  most  advanced  States  in  the  Union 
in  the  field  of  learning  and  arts.  Her  higher  institutions 
of  education  are  the  pride  of  the  nation,  and  even  in  arts 
and  music  she  has  made  remarkable  records.  In  legisla- 
tion and  administration  she  is  one  of  the  most  progressive 
States.  The  marvellous  feat  which  San  Francisco 
achieved  in  the  wake  of  the  earthquake  and  conflagration 
which  smote  her  in  1906  is  but  an  indication  of  the 
tremendous  energy  and  unequalled  enterprise  with  which 
the  Californians  are  endowed. 

145 


146  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

The  Americans  of  to-day  are  wont  to  speak  slight- 
ingly of  the  "  Forty-niners  "  and  those  who  followed  their 
footsteps  in  search  of  gold.  Yet  from  those  sturdy,  if 
somewhat  unruly,  pioneers  the  Californians  of  to-day 
have  inherited  their  undaunted  courage  and  their  enter- 
prising spirit.  The  hardships  and  privations  which  the 
pioneers  endured  in  crossing  the  continent,  through  des- 
erts and  over  mountains  infested  with  highwaymen  and 
savage  Indians,  were  in  themselves  a  sure  test  of  supe- 
rior mental  and  physical  qualities.  The  descendants  of 
such  indomitable  souls  cannot  help  being  self-reliant, 
plucky,  and  progressive. 

Herein  lies  the  explanation  for  the  peculiar  attitude 
which  the  Californians  asfiume  towards  the  Orientals; 
yes,  towards  all  outsiders.  \  The  native  son  of  California 
regards  himself,  and  not  without  reason,  as  the  chosen 
son  of  God,  a  superior  being  to  whom  all  foreigners, 
whether  Asiatic  or  European,  should  pay  homage.  To 
speak  of  this  attitude  as  foolish  or  boorish  is  unreason- 
ably for  did  not  even  our  great  Carlyle,  that  beacon  light 
of  English  literature  and  philosophy,  cherish  intense, 
almost  bitter,  prejudice  against  the  Irish?  What  nation, 
what  race  has  not  in  one  stage  or  another  of  its  history 

t?rified  itself  with  the  halo  of  superiority? 
California's  assumption  of  superiority  is  not  in  itself 
a  bad  trait,  rather  is  it  a  wholesome  confidence  in  her 
ability.  The  only  danger  lies  in  the  fact  that  such  confi- 
dence is  liable  to  be  carried  to  extremes,  especially  by 
the  ignorant  and  vulgarj  It  is  such  extravagant  self- 
confidence  which  we  call  provincialism.  Except  such 
blind  self-respect,  California's  contempt  of  Orientals  is 
not  unjustifiable.  Meanwhile,  let  us  record  a  few  cases 
in  which  this  provincialism  manifested  itself  in  a  manner 
which  all  judicious-minded  Californians  deeply  deplore. 


CALIFORNIA  AND  THE  JAPANESE  147 

A  Japanese  Consul-General  at  San  Francisco  rented  a 
house  for  his  residence  in  what  the  newspapers  called  a 
fashionable  district  of  that  city.  The  official  was  one  of 
the  ablest  and  most  cultured  of  the  younger  diplomats  of 
Japan.  Yet  his  prospective  American  neighbours  ob- 
jected to  his  moving  into  the  house  he  rented,  and  it 
was  only  after  a  protracted  parley  that  he  was  at  last  al- 
lowed to  occupy  it. 

The  Yokohama  Specie  Bank  of  Japan,  one  of  the 
largest  banking  establishments  in  the  world,  and  Mitsui 
&  Co.,  the  largest  Japanese  firm  engaged  in  international 
trade,  maintain  a  branch  office  at  San  Francisco,  and 
have  been  a  potent  factor  in  the  development  of  the  trade 
which  passes  through  the  Golden  Gate.  The  treatment 
accorded  the  representatives  of  these  firms  in  San  Fran- 
cisco is  anything  but  pleasant.  When  the  manager  of 
the  San  Francisco  office  of  the  Mitsui  firm  rented  a  house 
in  Berkeley,  his  neighbours  looked  suspiciously  at  him. 
If  they  had  only  declined  to  associate  with  him  he  would 
not  have  fared  very  badly.  But  their  methods  of  snub- 
bing assumed  a  more  aggressive  aspect.  They  organized 
themselves  into  a  sort  of  "  holy  alliance,"  and  issued  an 
injunction  forbidding  the  fuel  dealers  and  provision  mer- 
chants of  the  city  to  accept  the  patronage  of  the  heathen 
Oriental.  At  first  the  merchants  took  the  mandate  rather 
lightly,  but  when  the  belligerent  neighbours  of  the  unfor- 
tunate Japanese  threatened  them  with  a  boycott,  thty 
were  forced  to  heed  it. 

The  Japanese,  a  man  of  cosmopolitan  culture  who 
had  travelled  extensively  in  Asia  and  Europe,  was  not 
worried — he  took  the  situation  in  good  humour  like  a 
philosopher.  And  why  not?  His  landlord  knew  him 
and  liked  him,  and  told  him  to  stay,  no  matter  what  his 
neighbours  might  do.    Then  the  belligerent  folk  resorted 


I4B  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

to  novel  strategy  and  enjoined  their  children  not  to  asso- 
ciate with  the  little  daughter  of  the  man  who  rented  his 
house  to  the  Japanese.  Still  the  landlord  laughed  and 
remained  steadfast,  though  he  had  to  send  the  daughter 
away  from  home.  **  These  people/'  he  declared  reso- 
lutely, "  need  education  and  a  great  deal  of  it."  Mean- 
while, the  Japanese,  unable  to  buy  necessaries  of  life  of 
the  intimidated  home  merchants,  sent  to  Oakland  and 
San  Francisco  for  his  supplies.  He  furnished  the  house 
adequately,  hired  an  American  girl  as  servant,  and  lived 
as  respectably  as  anybody  in  the  vicinity.  Weeks  passed 
by,  and  weeks  grew  into  months,  with  his  neighbours 
slowly  awakening  to  the  folly  of  the  whole  performance. 
They  could  see  no  reason  why  they  should  be  so  finical 
with  their  new  neighbour  from  the  Orient,  and  they  be- 
gan to  exchange  with  him  such  social  felicitations  as  are 
usually  exchanged  among  neighbours,  first  from  sheer 
curiosity,  then  with  a  desire  to  make  acquaintance  with 
him. 

Another  tragi-comedy  was  also  staged  in  Berkeley. 
George  Shima,  the  Potato  King,  procured  a  residence 
in  an  exclusive  section  of  the  college  town.  He  had 
made  a  fortune  as  potato  grower.  His  ranches  are  deltas 
on  the  lower  reaches  of  the  great  San  Joaquin  River,  and 
cover  an  area  of  more  than  ten  thousand  acres,  partly 
leased  and  partly  owned  by  himself.  It  is  bonanza  farm- 
ing, and  Shima  was  called  the  "  Potato  King."  Yet 
when  he  moved  into  his  new  home  at  Berkeley,  the 
"  society  *'  of  the  college  town  began  to  talk,  heaping 
upon  him  all  sorts  of  insinuations  and  invectives.  The 
newspaper  reporters  of  San  Francisco,  Berkeley,  and 
Oakland  quickly  lined  up  with  the  frivolous  society  gos- 
sipers,  and  conspired  to  pull  down  the  man  whom  they 
had  voluntarily  placed  upon  a  royal   dais.     "Jap   In* 


CALIFORNIA  AND  THE  JAPANESE  149 

vades  Fashionable  Quarters,"  "  Jap  Puts  on  Airs,"  "  Yel- 
low Peril  in  College  Town  " — such  were  a  few  of  the 
hundred  and  one  flings  and  epithets  which  the  newspa- 
pers hurled  upon  Shima. 

But  Shima  was  a  philosopher  and  a  strategist.  He 
lived  in  his  new  home  in  respectable  fashion,  employing 
a  retinue  of  servants  and  embellishing  the  rooms  with 
elegant  furniture.  He  purchased  the  adjoining  lot  and 
converted  it  into  a  garden  adorned  with  rare  shrubs 
and  flowers  imported  from  Europe  and  Asia.  Then  his 
*'  exclusive "  neighbours  rubbed  their  eyes  and  began 
to  wonder  what  sort  of  a  "  Jap  "  had  come  to  live  in 
their  midst.  And  when  Mr.  Shima  donated  $500  to  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  the  University  of  California,  the  towns- 
men had  to  recognize  that  even  a  Japanese  could  be  as 
public-spirited  as  they.  That  settled  it.  Shima  was 
no  longer  a  social  outcast,  and  to-day  the  crown  of 
the  Potato  King  rests  upon  his  head  as  securely  as 
ever. 

It  is  indeed  regrettable  that  we  have  come  to  attach 
too  much  importance  to  the  worldly  possessions  of  a  man 
in  determining  his  worth  as  a  man.  Mr.  Shima  is  a  gen- 
tleman before  he  is  a  potato  king.  He  is  possessed  of  the 
highest  sense  of  honour;  his  character  is  impeccable. 
Neither  is  he  an  uncultured  boor,  for  he  is  well  versed 
in  the  Chinese  classics,  and  can  compose  a  poem  or  two 
even  in  the  thick  of  business.  All  these  qualities  passed 
unnoticed,  and  not  until  he  demonstrated  his  wealth  in 
things  that  could  be  spoken  of  in  terms  of  dollars  and 
cents  did  the  people  take  him  seriously. 

The  inability  of  the  Japanese  to  secure  desirable  dwell- 
ing places  is  pregnant  with  significance,  for  it  must  in- 
evitably result  in  the  virtual  segregation  of  the  Japa- 
nese from  the  American  community.    The  Japanese  are 


150  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

accused  of  congregating  in  their  own  quarters  in  our 
cities,  but  how  can  they  avoid  the  course  when  we  our- 
selves set  up  a  barrier  of  prejudice  which  they  are  not  yet 
able  to  scale  or  destroy?  There  are  of  course  classes  of 
Japanese  who  are  foreign  to  the  amenities  of  refined  so- 
ciety, and  no  one  insists  that  such  Japanese  should  be 
permitted  to  reside  in  "  exclusive  '*  quarters.  Neither 
would  they  care  to  live  in  such  quarters,  even  if  they 
could.  At  the  same  time,  there  are  Japanese  who  deserve 
and  are  anxious  to  be  admitted  into  respectable  quarters. 
Such  men  will  prove  themselves,  if  only  allowed  an  op- 
portunity to  prove,  as  desirable  as  anybody  not  only  as 
tenants  but  as  members  of  the  community  in  which  they 
live. 

It  is  indeed  sad  to  think  that  even  in  such  college 
towns  as  Berkeley,  Palo  Alto,  and  Los  Angeles  the  Japa- 
nese students  find  it  well-nigh  impossible  to  board  or 
room  with  American ,  families.  What  a  contrast  is  here 
presented  with  the  kindness  and  cordiality  with  which 
the  Japanese  students  are  received  in  the  college  towns 
of  the  East !  In  the  East  any  fahiily  welcomes  Japanese 
young  men  as  roomers  or  boarders,  because  they  are 
more  quiet,  more  orderly,  more  cleanly  in  habit,  and  less 
critical  than  their  American  schoolmates.  Thus  coming 
in  close  contact  with  American  life,  the  Japanese  students 
in  the  East  enjoy  opportunity  to  adopt  and  absorb  Ameri- 
can ideas. 

In  Los  Angeles,  the  Japanese  Students'  Club,  con- 
sisting mostly  of  students  of  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia, desired  to  purchase  a  lot  on  which  to  build  its 
clubhouse,  but  it  had  to  drop  the  plan  entirely,  as  the 
prejudice  of  the  citizens  made  it  impossible  for  it  to 
secure  a  desirable  site.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  Japa- 
nese students  in  California,  in  spite  of  all  the  splendid 


CALIFORNIA  AND  THE  JAPANESE  IS  I 

opportunities  offered  by  her  universities,  are  ever  casiing 
their  longing  eyes  over  the  Rockies  ? 

One  of  the  leading  New  York  magazines  says  in  its 
editorial :  "  The  Japanese  dislike  the  Californians  as 
heartily  as  the  Californians  dislike  them."  The  latter 
half  of  the  sentence  may  contain  some  truth,  but  the 
former  does  not.  Rightly  or  wrongly,  the  Japanese  in 
California  still  believe  that  the  agitation  against  them 
was  started  and  is  being  engineered  by  a  class  of  men 
whose  conduct,  public  and  private,  most  Californians  de- 
plore and  denounce.  To  me  their  patience  and  good- 
nature appear  almost  surprising,  considering  the  humili- 
ating treatment  to  which  they  are  constantly  subjected. 
And,  after  all,  there  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not 
be  good-natured,  when  they  come  to  think  of  it.  In  spite 
of  all  the  calumnies  and  insinuations  which  the  Exclusion 
League  heap  upon  them,  the  individual  Californians  are 
but  too  willing  to  deal  with  Japanese  farmers  and 
merchants. 

One  of  the  commonest  charges  brought  against  the 
Japanese  in  California  is  that,  "  wherever  they  live,  their 
presence  depreciates  the  value  of  all  adjacent  property." 
I  do  not  wish  to  be  dogmatic  on  this  point,  but  shall 
simply  quote  the  following  passages  from  a  letter  writ- 
ten by  Miss  Alice  M.  Brown,  a  resident  of  Florin,  to 
contradict  the  statement  made  by  Collier's  Weekly: 

''  As  to  the  decrease  in  land  values  that  is  another  bald 
falsehood.  The  property  has  doubled  in  value  within 
the  last  six  years.  Any  realty  man  of  Sacramento  knows 
that  this  is  the  fact  as  well  as  the  residents  of  this  com- 
munity (Florin)  know  that  this  is  the  fact.  As  for  the 
Japanese  neighbour,  his  industry  on  the  land  he  tills 
enhances  its  value  and  increases  ours  in  consequence. 
Adjoining  my  home  is  eighty  acres  which  for  all  these 


J 


152  ASIA   AT   THE  DOOR 

years  had  never  been  touched  by  a  plough — so  sloughy 
and  shallow  was  the  land  that  the  white  man  set  it  aside 
as  only  fit  for  a  pasture.  The  Japanese  turned  it  into  the 
most  beautiful  vineyards  and  strawberry  patches,  and 
where  the  poorest  of  the  poor  soil  lay  is  the  finest  berry 
patch  in  this  vicinity.  Neat  little  homes  dot  that  once 
barren  tract,  and  they  are  occupied  by  as  good  and  kindly 
neighbours  as  we  wish  to  have.  Who  is  insane  enough 
to  believe  that  such  a  transformation  from  aridity  to 
high  productiveness  would  decrease  the  value  of  adjoin- 
ing property? 

"  There  never  has  been  one  farm  sold  to  get  away 
from  a  Japanese  neighbour.  On  the  contrary,  white 
families  are  coming  in  all  the  time  and  erecting  homes. 
The  fact  that  the  Japanese  are  here  enables  the  white 
man  to  secure  the  help  to  make  good  for  himself.  We 
do  not  object  to  the  moral,  industrious  Japanese  being 
our  neighbour ;  we  prefer  him  to  ignorant,  shiftless  white 
men.  The  experience  of  many  has  shown  that  the  white 
man  is  a  failure  as  a  tenant,  the  property  becomes  a  wreck 
in  his  hands.  The  industrious  Japanese  will  do  the  work 
and  increase  the  value  of  the  property.  There  are  more 
whites  in  this  community  than  there  ever  were  before 
in  its  history." 

Mr.  Chester  Rowell,  editor  of  the  Fresno  Republican, 
harps  upon  the  most  deep-rooted  prejudice  of  Calif or- 
nians  when  he  opens  his  article  in  a  recent  issue  of  the 
World's  Work  with  this  sensational  utterance  of  a  farmer 
who  was  permitted  to  appear  before  a  session  of  the  Cali- 
fornia legislature: 

"  Up  at  Elk  Grove,  where  I  live,  on  the  next  farm  a 
Japanese  man  lives,  and  a  white  woman.  That  woman 
is  carrying  around  a  baby  in  her  arms.  What  is  that 
baby?    It  isn't  white.    It  isn't  Japanese.    I  will  tell  you 


CALIFORNIA   AND  THE  JAPANESE  153 

what  it  is — it  is  the  beginning  of  the  biggest  problem 
that  ever  faced  the  American  people  I  " 

To  understand  why  California  is  so  averse  to  American- 
Japanese  marriage  one  need  only  look  at  the  Venus-like 
faces  of  her  women  and  the  features  of  her  men  as  hand- 
some as  those  of  an  Adonis.  To  give  up  such  a  beautiful 
woman  to  a  homely  Japanese  instead  of  to  a  stately, 
courtly  Californian  must  appear  a  sacrifice  and  a  blas- 
phemy. That  is  the  only  "  biggest  problem  "  involved 
in  intermarriage  between  Japanese  and  Americans.  But 
why  should  it  be  any  problem  at  all  when  a  Japanese 
man  and  an  American  woman  could  be  happily  united 
and  can  rear  offspring  as  vigorous,  as  bright,  and  indeed 
as  handsome  as  any  child?  In  Eastern  States  I  have 
seen  many  Japanese-American  children  who  are  the  fa- 
vourites of  the  whole  community  in  which  they  live.  It 
is  only  when  prejudice  and  snobbery  obstruct  one's  dis- 
cernment that  one  utters  such  hysterical  cries  as  that 
raised  by  the  Elk  Grove  farmer.  Neither  sons  nor  daugh- 
ters born  to  American-Japanese  couples  will  find  any  diffi- 
culty in  marrying  pure-blooded  Americans.  If  the  "  big- 
gest problem  that  ever  faced  the  American  people  "  will 
ever  result  from  the  presence  of  Japanese  in  this  coun- 
try, it  is  least  likely  to  come  from  intermarriage. 

In  this  age  of  human  solidarity  we  can  no  longer  ad- 
here to  such  narrow  views  of  intermarriage  as  are  enter- 
tained by  Califomians.  To  the  Eastward  across  the 
Rockies  and  to  the  Westward  across  the  Pacific  there 
are  already  a  considerable  number  of  Japanese  married 
to  Caucasian  women.  Such  Japanese  are  forced  to  avoid 
California,  however  urgently  their  business  or  calling 
may  require  them  to  reside  in  that  State.  To  place  in 
an  uncomfortable  position  such  men  as  Dr.  Takamine,  of 


154  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

New  York,  or  Dr.  Nitobe,  of  Tokyo,  merely  because  their 
wives  are  Americans  would  be  childish.  Yet  that  is  ex- 
actly what  happens  to  such  men  when  they  travel  in 
California.  Instead  of  attempting  to  fan  this  popular 
prejudice  against  intermarriage,  cannot  the  leading  men 
of  the  Golden  State  be  large-hearted  enough  to  exert  their 
wholesome  influence  for  its  dissipation?  But  I  have  al- 
ready discussed  this  problem  at  length  in  the  chapter 
on  the  Americanization  of  the  Japanese,  and  I  must  pass 
on  to  another  phase  of  the  problem. 

Dr.  Edward  A.  Steiner,  one  of  the  foremost  authori- 
ties on  the  immigration  problem,  in  a  recent  address  at  St. 
Louis,  sees  the  real  menace  for  California  not  in  Oriental 
immigration,  but  in  the  ebbing  energy  of  its  citizens. 
The  pioneers  of  California  who  conquered  all  obstacles 
offered  by  nature,  were  energetic,  undaunted,  and  willing 
to  toil.  But  the  present  generation,  Dr.  Steiner  points 
out,  is  beginning  to  seek  pleasure,  avoid  parenthood,  and 
shirk  hard  work.  And  many  Californians  plainly  admit 
that  their  young  men  no  longer  soil  their  hands  with  the 
tilling  of  the  earth,  but  migrate  to  cities  in  quest  of  gen- 
tleman's work  and  easy  money.  The  effect  of  this  tend- 
ency is  clearly  shown  in  the  census  of  19  lo,  which  records 
considerable  decrease  of  the  farm  lands  in  California. 
Some  American  writers  go  even  so  far  as  to  assert  that 
this  very  symptom  of  weakness  on  the  part  of  Califor- 
nians is  one  of  the  causes  which  brought  about  the  agi- 
tation against  the  Japanese.  To  us,  however,  the  theory 
is  open  to  question.  The  idea  of  setting  up  the  bogie 
of  superiority  of  an  Asiatic  people  is  too  bizarre,  to  put 
it  mildly,  to  be  taken  seriously. 

At  the  same  time,  the  Japanese,  being  human,  have 
not  been  faultless.    They  may  not  have  been  as  faithful 


CALIFORNIA  AND  THE  JAPANESE  155 

to  contracts  as  they  should  have  been.  At  any  rate,  it 
has  become  a  fashion  among  Californians  of  a  certain 
class  to  laud  the  honesty  of  the  Chinese  and  deplore  the 
*'  dishonesty  "  of  the  Japanese.  Yet  we  must  remember 
that  when  California  was  trying  to  exclude  the  Chinese 
they  had  no  hesitation  in  assailing  the  "  dishonesty  "  of 
the  Chinese  in  the  most  vehement  terms,  in  comparison 
with  which  their  present  criticism  of  Japanese  lack  of 
business  honour  seems  a  tame  affair.  When  we  are  bent 
upon  attaining  a  certain  end,  our  sense  of  justice  does 
not  prevent  us  from  resorting  to  exaggeration  and  mis- 
representation in  order  to  attain  that  end. 

Again,  the  Japanese  may  have  appeared  too  proud, 
although  the  Japanese  themselves  seem  totally  uncon- 
scious of  the  fact.  Their  apparent  "  cockiness  "  is  noth- 
ing but  their  innocent  efforts  to  conform  to  the  customs 
and  manners  which  they  have  been  constantly  told  to 
respect  by  the  very  men  who  now  attack  their  cockiness. 
And  besides,  there  are  many  educated  and  well-bred  Japa- 
nese who  were  disciplined  in  the  deportment  commonly 
observed  among  the  upper  classes  in  their  native  country. 
In  the  words  of  Mr.  Walter  V.  Woehlke,  of  the  Sunset 
Magadne,  **  this  cockiness  is  but  the  expression  of  the 
poise  and  dignity  that  is  one  of  the*  finest  features  of  the 
Japanese  national  character."  When,  therefore,  a  Japa- 
nese acts  as  a  well-bred  American  would  act,  he  has  no 
intention  to  offend  anybody,  no  desire  to  put  on  airs, 
no  idea  to  challenge  the  superiority  of  any  man  under  the 
sun.  To  him  it  is  perfectly  natural  and  spontaneous  to 
respect  and  conform  to  the  customs  of  any  foreign  coun- 
try where  he  may  come  to  live.  This  spontaneous  feel- 
ing even  overcomes  his  innate  dislike  of  black  frock- 
coat  and  high  silk  hat,  which,  though  adopted  in  Japan 
as  proper  costume  in  formal  functions,  were  undoubtedly 


156  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

invented  for  tall  figures.  After  all,  the  allegation  of 
Japanese  cockiness  is  a  trivial  thing  unworthy  of  serious 
consideration,  yet  Mr.  Woehlke  warns  us  that  it  is  just 
such  trivial  things  which  largely  influence  the  judgment 
of  a  prejudiced  public.  In  New  York  there  are  more 
Japanese  who  "  put  on  airs  "  than  in  San  Francisco,  yet 
nobody  in  that  cosmopolitan,  hospitable  metropolis  on  the 
Atlantic  ever  becomes  excited  over  it. 

If  it  be  true  that  the  Californians  are  exasperated  by 
*'the  proud,  erect  bearing,  the  immaculate  clothes,  and 
the  exquisite  manners  of  the  successful,  well-bred  Japa- 
nese," the  future  of  California  calls  for  deep  apprehension 
on  the  part  of  every  public-spirited  citizen.  This  appre- 
hension is  expressed  by  Dr.  Francis  G.  Peabody,  of  Har- 
vard University,  in  this  language  : 

"The  attitude  of  the  South  to  the  Negro  practically 
prohibits  the  immigration  of  free  men.  The  same  result 
would  seem  probable  if  the  Mississippi  view  of  citizen- 
ship were  applied  in  California.  Self-respecting  immi- 
grants would  be  likely  to  shun  a  State  where  none  but 
serfs  were  wanted.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  extraor- 
dinary attractiveness  of  California  should  overbalance  its 
deterrent  policy,  then  it  seems  likely  that  she  would  get 
the  kind  of  immigrants  desired.  I  heard  a  Californian 
last  February  in  a  public  address  describe  the  gains 
which  were  to  be  made  by  California  through  the  open- 
ing of  the  Panama  Canal.  The  future  of  the  State,  he 
said,  depended  on  a  great  influx  of  population,  and  Ger- 
man lines  proposed  to  *  lay  down '  immigrants  from  the 
Mediterranean  at  a  cost  of  $5  above  the  rate  to  New 
York.  New  England  has  already  had  its  lesson  of  finan- 
cial loss  and  social  disorder  as  the  consequence  of  im- 
porting this  kind  of  labour  from  the  eastern  Mediter- 
ranean.   But  New  England  may  perhaps  urge  in  self- 


CALIFORNIA  AND  THE  JAPANESE  1$? 

defence  that  she  could  find  no  other  source  of  supply. 
California,  it  would  seem  from  this  article  (Mr.  Woehl- 
ke's  article  in  the  Outlook),  deliberately  proposes  a  pol- 
icy of  welcome  for  inefficiency,  ignorance,  and  anarchy, 
and  of  exclusion  for  the  intelligence,  orderliness,  and 
skill  which  stand  waiting  at  her  doors.'* 

Mrs.  Mary  Roberts  Coolidge  is  perhaps  right  in  say- 
ing that  "  the  anti-foreign  feeling  in  California  was  un- 
questionably intensified  by  the  presence  of  Southerners, 
who  comprised  nearly  one-third  of  the  population  in  the 
first  generation.  Of  these  a  minority  were  educated  pure 
American  stock,  who  brought,  in  some  cases,  their  slaves 
with  them  and  a  profound  conviction  that  California 
should  be  a  white  man's  country.  But  this  class  was 
greatly  outnumbered  by  immigrants  from  the  border 
States  of  the  Pike-County-Missourian  type,  whose  igno- 
rance and  extreme  race  antipathies  classed  all  persons, 
other  than  European  whites,  together — South  Americans, 
South  Europeans,  Kanakas,  Malays,  or  Chinese — all  were 
coloured;  even  the  French,  partly  because  they  were  of 
a  darker  skin  and  partly  because  they,  like  the  Spanish- 
Americans,  were  too  high-spirited,  were  attacked  as  for- 
eigners. The  Germans.Jrish,  and  Englishmen  alone  were 
excepted,  although  many  of  them  were  not  naturalized, 
and  had  far  less  right  in  the  country  than  the  native 
Indians  and  Spaniards." 

Added  to  the  conditions  described  by  Mrs.  Coolidge, 
there  was  another  factor  which  gave  a  strong  impetus 
to  the  movement  against  the  foreigners,  and  especially 
the  Asiatics.  From  the  early  days  California  enjoyed 
the  reputation  of  having  very  strong  trade  unions.  This 
peculiarity  was  no  doubt  due  to  the  fact  that  California 
began  her  history  as  a  mining  country.  In  those  States 
whose   economic   resources   are  mostly  in   agriculture. 


158  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

trade  unionism  seldom  looms  portentously  upon  the  po- 
litical horizon.  It  was  gold  mining  which  enriched  Cali- 
fornia before  its  farm  lands  began  to  attract  settlers, 
and  the  mining  industry  inevitably  resulted  in  the  organi- 
zation of  miners'  unions.  As  early  as  1850  the  mining 
workers  became  a  potent  factor  in  State  politics.  Both 
the  Republicans  and  the  Democrats  depended  upon  the 
mining  vote  to  control  the  legislature.  From  that  time 
on  the  miners'  organization  steadily  grew  in  influence 
and  in  the  number  of  its  members.  With  the  general 
progress  of  the  State  other  trade  unions  sprang  into  ex- 
istence and  joined  hands  with  the  older  labour  organi- 
zations, culminating  in  1877  in  the  inauguration  of  the 
Workingmen's  Party. 

In  the  meantime  the  distribution  of  wealth  in  Califor- 
nia was  such  as  would  assist  in  the  growth  of  trades 
unions.  The  concentration  of  lands  in  the  hands  of  a 
few  deprived  settlers  of  small  means  of  opportunity  to 
become  independent  farmers,  while  the  monopoly  of  rail- 
ways and  steamship  services  by  a  few  financial  magnates 
necessarily  raised  the  cost  of  living  by  keeping  transpor- 
tation at  prohibitive  rates.  Such  a  condition  naturally 
awakened  discontent  on  the  part  of  the  workingmen  as 
well  as  men  of  limited  means. 

These  circumstances  conspired  to  confer  upon  the 
trade  union  in  California  a  most  arbitrary  and  tyrannical 
power.  I  am  no  opponent  of  trade  unionism,  when  trade 
unionism  is  based  upon  sound  economic  and  ethical  prin- 
ciples. Indeed,  I  was  one  of  those  few  Japanese  who, 
about  a  decade  ago,  introduced  trade  unionism  to  Japan 
at  the  risk  of  incurring  the  displeasure  of  the  ruling  class 
and  the  capitalist.  Fresh  from  college  and  having  never 
been  abroad,  I  had  gleaned  a  knowledge  of  trades  unions 
in  America  and  Europe  from  books  mostly  from  the 


CALIFORNIA  AND  THE  JAPANESE  159 

pens  of  sympathetic  writers,  and  I  naturally  became  a 
most  enthusiastic  sympathizer  with  their  principles  and 
movement.  I  frankly  confess  that  I  was  somewhat  dis- 
illusioned when  I  came  to  know  something  of  the  prac- 
tical modus  operandi  of  the  trade  unions  in  America.  My 
fidelity  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  trade  unionism 
still  remains  unshaken,  but  I  have  little  sympathy  with 
the  narrow-mindedness  and  the  utter  disregard  of  justice 
and  honour  with  which  the  good  names  of  some  labour 
leaders  have  been  besmirched.  A  perusal  of  such  a  book 
as  "  The  Masked  War,"  by  William  J.  Burns,  the  man 
who  uncovered  the  dynamite  conspiracy,  is  enough  to  dis- 
pel all  glamour  of  martyrdom  and  disinterestedness  which 
long  shrouded  such  leaders. 

Perhaps  the  climate  of  California,  too,  has  had  some 
influence  in  developing  a  peculiar  type  of  "  mass  psy- 
chology." Professor  Steiner  thinks  that  this  climate  is 
responsible  for  the  mental  habit  of  exaggeration  com- 
monly observed  in  California.  Unquestionably  some 
Californians  entertain  a  very  exaggerated  idea  as  to  the 
number  and  strength  of  the  Japanese  in  their  State. 
Whatever  may  be  said  of  Tennyson's  dictum, 

"  That  bright  and  fierce  and  fickle  is  the  south 
And  dark  and  true  and  tender  is  the  north," 

it  seems  fairly  clear  that  from  time  immemorial  climate 
has  been  a  potent  factor  in  directing  the  course  of  human 
activities  and  determining  the  destinies  of  nations.  Now 
the  climate  of  the  Golden  State  is  a  sort  of  climate  that 
strengthens  the  passions  and  sends  them  wild  for  excite- 
ment. Not  only  does  this  climate  quicken  the  pulse  and 
the  temper,  but  it  gave  birth  to  that  peculiar  human 
being  called  "  hoodlum."  The  hoodlum  cannot  exist  in 
a  country  with  a  rigorous  winter  and  the  homes  that 


i6o  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

are  born  of  it.  He  can  thrive  only  in  a  country  where 
snow  is  unknown,  and  where  one  can  live  out  in  the 
open  day  and  night  without  suffering  from  chilling  damp- 
ness or  biting  frost. 

While  the  climate  of  California  is  congenial  to  the 
existence  of  the  hoodlums,  its  economic  conditions  were 
such  as  to  swell  the  tide  of  lawless  elements.  From  the 
early  days  the  adult  labourers  in  California  made  con- 
certed attempts  to  prevent  the  employment  of  boys  and 
young  men  in  lighter  and  cheaper  common  labour.  The 
Miners'  Union  had  a  law  providing  that  the  rate  of  pay 
for  all  underground  men  must  be  $4  per  shift,  regard- 
less of  age,  experience,  or  ability.  This  made  it  impos- 
sible for  the  superintendent  to  hire  miners'  sons.  This 
policy  of  the  miners'  union  was  adopted  by  other  trade 
unions  organized  after  1870.  In  the  cigar  trade,  for  in- 
stance, the  number  of  apprentices  to  be  employed  in  any 
one  shop  was  restricted  to  three.  These  conditions  natu- 
rally resulted  in  the  creation  of  a  class  of  boys  and  young 
men  who  were  forced  to  lead  a  life  of  idleness,  drifted 
into  large  cities,  and  became  the  material  out  of  which 
the  hoodlum  element  was  ultimately  made. 

It  was  mostly  these  lawless  elements  which  in  the  days 
of  Denis  Kearney  constituted  the  band  of  sand-lotters. 
Since  that  time  the  fortunes  of  the  hoodlum,  as  fortunes 
go,  have  been  on  the  wane,  yet  we  know  that  he  figured 
prominently  in  the  anti- Japanese  outrages  in  San  Fran- 
cisco a  few  years  ago.  Beyond  a  doubt  it  was  that  dis- 
orderly class  that  broke  the  windows  of  Japanese  stores, 
raided  Japanese  restaurants,  and  even  extorted  money 
from  Japanese  merchants  in  those  days  of  confusion  and 
consternation  that  occurred  in  the  wake  of  the  great 
earthquake  and  conflagration. 

To  the  Japanese,  and  even  to  Americans  who  live  east 


CALIFORNIA  AND  THE  JAPANESE  l6l 

of  the  Rockies,  these  outrages  in  San  Francisco  appeared 
at  the  time  to  be  an  incident  of  great  significance.  The 
Japanese  across  the  ocean  regarded  it  as  an  indication 
of  the  hostile  attitude  which  the  Californians  in  general 
assumed  towards  Japan.  Moreover,  the  report  as  to  the 
damages  suffered  by  Japanese  merchants  was  greatly 
magnified,  as  it  travelled  across  the  Pacific.  Meanwhile, 
Americans  in  the  Eastern  States,  knowing  little  of  the 
peculiarities  of  the  San  Francisco  population,  overesti- 
mated the  meaning  of  those  outrages  and  were  led  to 
wonder  if  Japanese  and  other  races  could  ever  live  ami- 
cably together. 

Looking  at  the  incident  of  1907  through  the  perspective 
of  the  years  that  have  gone  by,  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  it  was  comparatively  of  small  significance  and  un- 
worthy of  the  great  excitement  and  commotion  with 
which  it  was  discussed  on  both  sides  of  the  Pacific.  Even 
the  school  question  should  have  been  settled  more  quietly 
through  judicial  channels.  But  it  was  just  such  excite- 
ment and  commotion  which  the  Exclusion  League  was 
anxious  to  create,  knowing  that  it  would  inevitably  act 
contagiously  upon  the  mind  of  the  whole  nation,  and 
thus  result  in  creating  with  the  public  an  impression  that 
it  might  be  best  to  close  the  doors  to  the  Japanese.  And 
in  this  the  league  has  been  largely  successful. 

Whatever  may  be  the  real  cause  of  the  anti-Japanese 
agitation,  its  recrudescence  is  highly  deplorable.  Each 
succeeding  year  it  intensifies  the  anxiety  of  the  Japa- 
nese on  both  sides  of  the  water.  In  the  session  of  19 13 
of  the  legislature  of  California  no  less  than  fhirty-fnnr 
bills  were  introduced,  all  aimed  at  the  curbinp^  of  the . 
rights  of  the  Japanese,  most  ot  which  were,  in  my  I'udg- 
ment,  obviously  guaranteed  by  the  treaty  between  the 
United  States  and  Japan.    The  thirty-four  bills — four- 


l62  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

teen  in  the  Senate,  twenty  in  the  House — are  of  special 
interest  in  that  they  indicate  the  nature  of  missiles  with 
which  the  Exclusion  League,  through  its  political  allies, 
assails  the  Japanese.  Classified  by  their  respective  na- 
tures, these  bills  fall  under  these  seven  heads : 
^i.  Bills  prohibiting  the  Japanese  from  acquiring  title 
to  land  or  real  property. 

2.  Bills  increasing  the  license  fee  of  Japanese  fisher- 
men from  the  present  rate  of  $io  to  $ioo  a  year. 

3.  Bills  providing  for  the  segregation  of  Japanese 
school  children. 

4.  Bills  prohibiting  the  issuance  of  liquor  licenses  to 
Japanese. 

5.  Bills  forbidding  the  Japanese  to  use  power  engines. 

6.  Bills  providing  for  the  imposition  of  a  special  poll 
tax  upon  the  Japanese. 

7.  Bills  prohibiting  the  Japanese  from  employing 
white  women. 

True,  the  bills,  except  in  a  few  cases,  do  not  openly 
attack  the  Japanese,  for  the  indirect  phrase,  "  aliens  not 
eligible  to  citizenship,"  is  preferred  to  the  direct  word 
"  Japanese,"  where  the  real  object  of  discrimination  is 
the  Japanese.  Such  indirect  discriminative  acts  are  cal- 
culated to  gall  the  Japanese  even  more  brutally  than  a 
direct  act.  As  President  Jordan  says :  ''  The  exclusion 
of  the  Japanese  from  citizenship,  for  which  discrimina- 
tion no  adequate  cause  exists,  is  of  the  nature  of  insult 
in  itself.  To  be  shut  out  because  they  have  been  insulted 
once  adds  doubly  to  a  humiliation  which  they  have  no 
power  to  resent,  but  which  they  hope  their  nearest  friend 
among  the  nations  will  not  offer  them." 

The  appearance  in  the  State  legislature  of  a  flood  of 
anti- Japanese  bills  in  191 3  was  especially  untimely  and 
unfortunate.    For  the  preceding  seven  years  Japan  had 


CALIFORNIA  AND  THE  JAPANESE  163 

patiently  and  graciously  endured  the  indignities  and  hu- 
miliations to  which  California  had  persistently  subjected 
her.  Not  only  this,  but  Japan  was  the  first  nation  to 
respond  to  the  appeal  of  the  Panama- Pacific  Exposition 
with  a  generous  promise  to  participate  in  the  proposed 
World's  Fair  on  a  large  scale.  The  delegates  of  the 
exposition  had  gone  over  to  the  otlier  side  of  the  water 
and  had  told  the  Japanese  that  the  people  of  California 
in  general  had  entertained  good-will  and  friendly  feeling 
towards  them,  and  that  Japan's  liberal  participation  in 
the  coming  exposition  would  greatly  strengthen  the  bond 
of  friendship  between  the  two  nations.  Japan  had  taken 
the  word  at  its  face  value,  and  promptly  sent  a  special 
commission  to  San  Francisco  to  select  a  site  for  the  build- 
ings which  she  was  to  build  on  the  fair  grounds,  when  no 
other  leading  nation  had  even  decided  whether  it  would 
participate  in  the  exposition  at  all.  The  commission  re- 
turned home  and  recommended  that  at  least  one  million 
dollars  be  appropriated  for  the  exposition.  Now  came 
the  State  legislature  proposing  innumerable  anti- Japanese 
bills. 

In  the  face  of  these  facts  can  we  not  understand  why 
on  this  particular  occasion  the  masses  of  Japan  displayed 
unusual  excitement  ?  It  was  not  the  mere  "  probability 
of  passage  of  an  act  by  one  State  discriminating  against 
its  people  "  that  caused  that  excitement.  It  was  the  out- 
come of  the  insult  which  California  had  for  the  preceding 
seven  years  constantly  offered  Japan,  and  of  the  peculiar 
feeling  of  distrust  caused  by  the  difference  between  the 
assurances  of  the  exposition  management  and  the  prac- 
tical activities  of  the  State  legislature.  Had  it  been  a 
European  power  which  was  subjected  to  such  uncere- 
monious treatment,  it  would  not  have  been  seven  long 
years  before  "  its  people  brought  out  mobs  and  talk  of 


i64  ASIA  AT  THE   DOOR 

war."  The  cry  of  war  which  was  raised  in  one  of  the 
mass  meetings  held  in  Tokyo  in  protest  against  California 
was  certainly  unfortunate  and  foolish,  but  had  not  some 
of  the  Americans  newspapers  and  publicists  been  for 
many  a  year  diligently  working  for  the  creation  of  the 
bogie  of  an  American- Japanese  war,  even  while  the  Japa- 
nese press  and  people  had  scrupulously  maintained  an 
attitude  of  dignity  and  tolerance  ?  Why,  then,  should  the 
enlightened  editors  of  great  New  York  magazines  be  sur- 
prised if  some  ignorant,  hot-headed,  irresponsible  people 
in  Tokyo,  not  publicists  nor  newspapers  of  any  standing, 
showed  a  willingness  to  accept  California's  challenge 
"  like  a  man  "  ?  For  my  part,  I  agree  with  Mr.  Don  C. 
Seitz  when  he  says  in  the  North  American  Review: 

"  The  pride  of  accomplishment  has  not  yet  abolished 
[Japan's]  gratitude  towards  America.  In  view  of  the 
occasional  American  manifestation  of  distrust,  it  is  aston- 
ishing that  it  should  prevail  so  strongly.  It  is  a  certain 
test  of  the  permanency  of  their  sense  of  obligation  which 
stands  patiently  unwarranted  attacks  upon  their  honour, 
a  people  whom  Russia  was  unable  to  push  away  from 
the  Asiatic  shore  when  once  they  chose  to  rest  foot 
upon  it." 

Of  the  alleged  ''  mobs  and  talk  of  war  "  in  Tokyo,  we 
shall  have  to  say  more  anon,  in  connection  with  the  anti- 
Japanese  land  legislation  in  California. 


THE  CALIFORNIA  LAND  IMBROGLIO 

LIKE  the  attempted  segregation  of  the  Japanese 
J  school-children  in  San  Francisco  in  1906,  the 
enactment  of  the  anti-Japanese  land  law  is  one  of 
the  "  successes  "  with  which  the  efforts  of  the  Japanese 
Exclusion  League  of  Mr.  Olaf  Tvietmoe  was  rewarded. 
Systematic  agitation  against  Japanese  ownership  of 
land  was  begun  in  1906  when  the  League  was  in  its 
palmiest  days.  From  that  time  anti-Japanese  land  bills 
in  one  form  or  another  were  introduced  every  year  in 
the  legislature  at  Sacramento.  Both  Democrats  and  Re- 
publicans sported  with  the  bills,  as  both  were  anxious 
to  win  the  labour  vote.  But  as  long  as  the  State  gov- 
ernment as  well  as  the  Federal  Administration  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  Republican  Party  the  legislators  at 
Sacramento  scrupled  to  enact  bills  which  the  authorities 
at  Washington  considered  inimical  to  the  maintenance 
of  friendly  relations  with  the  Mikado's  Empire.  Again 
and  again  did  Mr.  Roosevelt's  "  big  stick "  stop  the 
passage  of  such  bills,  while  Mr.  Taft  also  succeeded, 
though  by  subtler  means,  in  checking  the  anti-Japanese 
agitation  in  the  State  legislature. 

But  the  political  tables  were  completely  turned  as  the 
result  of  the  general  elections  of  191 2.  The  Progressive 
Party  became  paramount  in  the  politics  of  California, 
while  the  Democratic  Party  assumed  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment at  Washington.    The  California  Progressives  had 

165 


l66  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

little  sympathy  for  the  Wilson  Cabinet,  and  were  de- 
termined to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  State  to  suit  them, 
whatever  the  effects  of  their  actions  upon  the  policy  of 
the  Federal  Government.  I  have  always  been,  as  I  still 
am,  a  sincere  admirer  of  Governor  Johnson,  his  un- 
daunted courage,  his  unflinching  energy,  and  above  all, 
his  love  of  justice.  Yet  they  tell  me  that  the  Progressive 
Governor  of  California,  seeing  that  his  influence  was 
waning,  was  anxious  to  regain  his  popularity  by  catering 
to  the  wishes  of  the  labouring  class.  At  the  last  election 
he  was  elected  by  a  very  small  majority,  less  than  a 
hundred  votes.  When  the  anti- Japanese  land  bill  was 
introduced  in  the  fall  of  1912,  he  saw  a  chance  to  be- 
friend the  labouring  class.  As  the  Argonaut  observes,  the 
land  bill  "  is  just  a  bit  of  cheap  political  buncombe,  mean- 
ingless and  ineffective  in  itself,  useful  only  in  that  it  may 
help  somebody  to  get  votes  under  pretence  of  being  a 
Japanese  baiter." 

What  appears  to  be  an  inside  story  of  the  enactment 
of  the  land  bill  is  told  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Lon- 
don Nation  by  Miss  Alice  M.  Brown,  of  Florin,  who  was 
a  close  observer  of  every  activity  of  the  California  legis- 
lature in  regard  to  the  land  legislation.  Even  conceding 
that  her  account  of  the  situation  may  not  be  absolutely 
free  from  misconception,  it  nevertheless  throws  an  in- 
teresting light  upon  the  question.     She  says: 

"  When  the  agitation  began  in  the  legislature  we 
thought  it  was  just  a  flurry  of  organized  labour  that  would 
soon  end  by  being  unnoticed.  The  session  of  the  legisla- 
ture this  year  was  bifurcated  and  it  was  not  until  the 
middle  of  March  that  the  agitation  took  an  aggressive 
character.  When  the  Judiciary  Committee  held  a  meet- 
ing in  March,  they  permitted  a  member  of  our  com- 
munity [Florin]  to  appear  before  them.     This  man  was 


CALIFORNIA  LAND   IMBROGLIO  167 

a  disreputable  person,  shiftless,  ignorant,  and  addicted 
to  hard  drinking,  and  naturally  gave  utterance  to  a 
stock  of  vicious  falsehoods  which  shocked  all  respectable, 
fair-minded  people  of  Florin.  But  the  legislature  took 
up  his  ugly  lies  and  repeated  them  on  the  floors  of  both 
houses  as  *  the  demand  of  the  farmers  of  Florin  to  be 
saved  from  a  terrible  menace.'  The  intellectual  citizens 
of  Florin  immediately  took  steps  to  controvert  the  falsi- 
fication and  begged  the  Judiciary  Committee  for  a  hear- 
ing. After  repeated  appeals  it  was  finally  announced 
that  we  could  appear.  We  went  to  the  capital  prepared 
with  facts  and  statistics,  but  to  our  great  disgust  and 
astonishment  we  were  not  permitted  to  say  a  word. 
Meanwhile,  the  same  uncouth  falsifier  was  called  forth 
and  given  all  the  time  he  wanted  to  utter  more  false- 
hoods. 

"  We  tried  to  get  into  the  press  so  that  the  public 
might  see  the  situaition  as  it  really  was.  But  the  press  of 
California  was  closed  and  locked.  We  then  turned  to  the 
Governor;  he  had  no  time  to  give  us.  At  one  time  we 
waited  for  three  hours  at  the  door  of  the  Governor's 
office,  having  sent  in  a  letter  of  introduction  written  by 
his  personal  friend,  and  yet  we  were  not  permitted  to  set 
forth  before  him  our  side  of  the  case.  The  only  thing 
we  could  do  was  to  print  a  protest,  and  the  duty  of  pre- 
paring pamphlets  describing  the  real  status  of  the  Japa- 
nese in  our  community  was  assigned  me.  These  pam- 
phlets were  distributed  among  the  legislators,  editors,  and 
publicists  in  the  State,  but  were  given  scant  atten- 
tion. 

"  We  then  saw  that  '  the  demand  of  the  people  of  the 
State  for  relief '  was  a  political  scheme  to  arouse  race 
antagonism  and  curry  favour  with  the  labour-union  ele- 
ment, and  that  the  truth  was  not  wanted  because  truth 


l68  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

would  deprive  those  concocting  the  scheme  of  their 
ammunition  for  a  great  Japanese  scare.  With  the  lid 
tight  on  the  truth,  and  with  the  doors  of  the  press  and 
legislature  wide  open  to  falsehood,  the  public  mind  could 
be  inflamed  and  their  political  ends  attained. 

"  I  attended  the  session  every  time  the  land  bill  came 
up.  The  speeches  in  favour  of  the  bill  were  simply 
torrents  of  abuse  and  vituperations,  and  a  defiance  of 
national  authority.  Once  I  asked  an  Assemblyman  to 
set  forth  before  the  legislators  some  salient  facts  bearing 
upon  the  question,  and  the  gentleman  sighed :  '  The 
Assembly  is  dead  set;  no  industrial  appeal,  no  human 
appeal,  no  appeal  whatever  would  reach  them,  and  I  am 
going  to  save  my  breath.* 

"  When  the  bill  was  up  for  debate  in  the  Senate, 
Senator  Weight  arose  and  said :  '  You  are  all  playing 
politics,  dirty  cheap  politics;  you  all  know  you  are,  and 
you  don't  dare  deny  it.'  They  didn't,  not  one;  they  only 
sat  and  chuckled. 

"  We  had  not  connected  Governor  Johnson  with  the 
political  intrigue,  feeling  that  in  deference  to  the  high 
honour  he  had  held  as  a  Vice-Presidential  candidate  last 
fall  he  would  not  stultify  himself  with  undignified 
manoeuvres  and  unjust  discrimination.  But  with  the 
coming  of  Secretary  Bryan  he  showed  his  hand,  and  his 
identity  with  the  sinister  scheme  became  manifest.  By 
that  time  he  saw  the  chance  to  put  Wilson  in  a  hole,  and 
he  became  feverishly  anxious  to  pass  a  very  drastic 
measure. 

"  Mr.  Bryan  addressed  both  houses  jointly  in  a  private 
session.  When  he  explained  the  Administration's  wishes 
and  promised  them  help  by  diplomatic  adjustment,  the 
legislature  was  bending  to  his  plea.  At  that  juncture 
however,  the  Governor   sprang  to  his  feet,   and  by  a 


CALIFORNIA  LAND  IMBROGLIO  169 

virulent   plea    for   '  State's    rights '    turned    the    tables 
against  Secretary  Bryan. 

"  From  the  beginning  the  Japanese  community  in 
Florin  was  made  the  centre  of  attack,  and  Florin's  very 
prosperity  was  made  over  into  dire  calamity.  Governor 
Johnson  brought  Secretary  Bryan  out  here,  taking  as  a 
guide  not  an  intelligent,  respectable  citizen  of  our  com- 
munity but  the  ignorant  whiskey-soak  who  could  be  re- 
lied upon  to  delude  Secretary  Bryan.  When  the  party 
returned  to  Sacramento,  Secretary  Bryan  allowed  me  an 
interview.  I  then  told  him  the  facts  and  history  of 
agriculture  in  Florin,  and  the  part  the  Japanese  have 
played  in  it.  He  asked  me  many  questions  concerning 
what  he  had  seen  and  heard,  proving  that  he  had  been  a 
close  observer  but  had  been  greatly  misinformed.  I  am 
sure  he  saw  through  Governor  Johnson's  duplicity." 

All  efforts  of  President  Wilson  and  Secretary  Bryan 
unavailing,  the  land  bill  was  passed  on  April  15.  Mr. 
Bryan  had  left  Sacramento  on  April  3,  after  a  stay  of 
a  week.  While  the  bill  was  in  Governor  Johnson's  hands 
awaiting  his  signature,  the  President  made  another,  and 
the  final,  effort  to  prevent  it  from  becoming  a  law.  But 
the  Governor  stood  firm  and  replied  to  the  President: 

"  By  the  law  adopted  we  offer  no  offence,  we  make  no 
discrimination.  The  offence  and  discrimination  are  con- 
tained, it  is  claimed,  in  the  use  of  the  words  '  eligible 
to  citizenship,'  and  in  making  a  distinction  between  those 
who  are  eligible  to  citizenship  and  those  who  are  not. 
We  do  not  mention  the  Japanese  or  any  particular  race. 
The  constitution  of  California  in  1879  made  its  distinc- 
tion and  there  has  never  been  protest  or  objection.  The 
naturalization  law  of  the  United  States  long  since,  with- 
out demur  from  any  nation,  determined  who  were  and 
who  were  not  eligible  to  citizenship.     If  invidious  dis- 


I70  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

crimination  was  ever  made  in  this  regard,  the  LJnited 
States  made  it  when  it  declared  who  were  and  who  were 
not  eUgible  to  citizenship,  and  when  we  but  follow  and 
depend  on  the  statutes  of  the  United  States  and  their 
determination  as  to  eligibility  to  citizenship,  we  cannot 
be  accused  of  indulging  in  invidious  discrimination." 

The  Governor's  reply  was  a  lengthy  one.  As  a  piece 
of  logical  argument  it  is  a  splendid  document  and  de- 
serves the  praise  which  it  elicited  from  the  editors  of 
certain  influential  magazines  in  New  York.  Yet  every 
one  of  us  knows  that  a  logical  argument  is  not  necessarily 
a  convincing  argument.  There  are  arguments  which, 
however  logical,  terse,  and  vigorous  in  expression,  fall 
flat,  and  we  fear  that  Mr.  Johnson's  reply  to  the  Presi- 
dent was,  at  best,  a  fine  example  of  such  arguments. 
He  could  silence  his  opponents,  but  not  convince  them. 
And  to  those  who  knew  the  inside  story  of  the  political 
game  at  Sacramento  the  Governor's  argument  is  far  from 
convincing. 

The  law  puts  "  in  a  hole  "  not  only  the  Wilson  Cabinet 
but  the  Government  at  Tokyo.  It  provides  that  all  aliens 
eligible  to  citizenship  may  acquire  land,  and  that  all  aliens 
ineligible  to  citizenship  may  acquire  land  in  the  manner 
and  to  the  extent  and  for  the  purposes  prescribed  by  any 
treaty  now  existing  between  the  United  States  and  nation 
or  country  of  which  such  aliens  are  subjects.  Now  the 
American- Japanese  treaty  expressly  extends  to  the  Japa- 
nese the  right  to  own  or  lease  or  occupy  houses,  manu- 
factories, warehouses,  and  shops ;  to  lease  land  for  resi- 
dential and  commercial  purposes  and  generally  to  do 
anything  necessary  for  trade.  The  treaty  is  silent  on  the 
question  of  ownership  of  farm  land.  Comparing  the 
provisions  of  the  treaty  with  those  of  the  land  law  it  is 
difficult  to  see  how  Japan  could  logically  protest  against 


CALIFORNIA  LAND   IMBROGLIO  171 

the  measure  adopted  by  California.  True,  the  treaty 
contains  a  "  most  favoured  nation "  clause,  but  that 
clause,  too,  is  not  couched  in  general  sweeping  terms, 
but  confines  its  application  to  navigation  and  trade. 
Section  4  of  the  land  law  which  prohibits  the  inheritance 
of  farm  lands  now  owned  by  Japanese  by  their  heirs 
may  be  interpreted  as  an  infringement  upon  clause  3, 
Article  i,  of  the  treaty  with  Japan,  and  also  a  violation 
of  an  article  in  the  United  States  Constitution  which 
provides  that  *'  no  State  shall  deny  to  any  person  within 
its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws."  But 
the  question  of  inheritance  is  not  the  fundamental  one. 
The  fundamental  question  is  the  question  of  ownership 
of  farm  lands,  and  as  far  as  that  is  concerned,  Japan 
must  find  it  difficult  to  argue  her  side  of  the  case,  if 
the  question  is  approached  from  the  legal  point  of  view. 
That  the  land  law  is  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the  treaty 
seems  to  us  obvious,  but  in  international  dealings  what 
is  not  expressly  conceded  in  the  treaty  is  never  secure, 
unless,  forsooth,  such  concessions  are  upheld  by  the 
sword  and  cannon.  It,  therefore,  bespeaks  Japan's  good 
sense  that  her  so-called  "  protest "  was  in  reality  little 
more  than  a  friendly  request  for  the  assistance  of  the 
Wilson  Cabinet  in  her  efforts  to  solve  the  question  in  an 
amicable  manner. 

The  question,  we  believe,  should  be  considered  not 
from  the  legal  point  of  view,  but  in  the  light  of  broad 
statesmanship  with  due  regard  for  justice  and  humanity. 
In  the  first  place,  we  must  consider  whether  such  a  law 
would  not  conflict  with  the  fundamental  spirit  and  prin- 
ciple upon  which  this  great  Republic  stands.  In  the 
second  place,  we  must  consider  whether  there  exist  con- 
ditions which  call  for  such  a  law.  In  the  third  place,  we 
must  consider  whether  such  a  law  has  the  endorsement 


172  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

of  an  intelligent,  fair-minded  class  of  people.  Finally, 
we  must  consider  whether  the  adoption  of  such  a  law 
would  not  be  prejudicial  to  the  national  foreign  policy  of 
this  country. 

The  first  point  has  been  repeatedly  discussed  in  the 
preceding  chapters.  Here  I  need  only  assert  that  the  law 
is  decidedly  un-American.  It  is  enacted  merely  to 
throttle  the  legitimate  aspirations  of  the  Japanese,  to 
keep  the  Japanese  farmers  in  a  state  of  serfdom,  to  fan 
the  prejudice  which  is  being  constantly  exploited  by  the 
jealous  and  ignorant.  Senator  Boynton,  one  of  the 
staunchest  champions  of  the  land  law,  exclaimed  on 
the  floor  of  the  California  Senate :  "  I  don't  want  to  see 
a  Japanese  own  a  single  foot  of  land  of  California.  If 
they  are  willing  to  perform  menial  labour  on  farms 
under  the  direction  of  citizen  owners,  that  is  all  right." 
Are  these  words  which  could  be  put  into  the  mouth  of 
the  descendant  of  the  sire  who  only  a  hundred  years  ago 
addressed  this  note  to  his  oppressor: 

"  To  your  justice  we  appeal.  You  have  been  told  that 
we  are  impatient  of  government  and  desirous  of  inde- 
pendence. These  are  calumnies.  Permit  us  to  be  as 
free  as  yourselves,  and  we  shall  ever  esteem  a  union 
with  you  to  be  our  greatest  glory  and  our  greatest  happi- 
ness. But  if  you  are  determined  that  your  ministers  shall 
wantonly  sport  with  the  rights  of  mankind:  if  neither 
the  voice  of  justice,  the  dictates  of  law,  the  principles 
of  the  constitution,  or  the  suggestions  of  humanity, 
can  restrain  your  hands  from  shedding  human  blood 
in  such  an  impious  cause,  we  must  then  tell  you 
that  we  will  never  submit  to  be  hewers  of  wood  and 
drawers  of  water  for  any  ministry  or  nation  in  the 
world." 


CALIFORNIA  LAND   IMBROGLIO  173 

It  is  to  "  your  justice  "  that  the  Japanese  appeal.  We 
have  consecrated  our  country  to  the  cause  of  justice  and 
liberty,  and  in  order  to  uphold  it  we  did  not  hesitate  to 
make  enormous  sacrifice.  What  heresy,  what  perfidy 
to  attempt  to  trample  upon  the  sacred  legacy  of  our 
revered  sires  and  to  destroy  the  foundation  upon  which 
the  great  democracy  stands !  The  land  question  should 
not  be  confounded  with  the  immigration  question.  We 
have  imposed  upon  Japan  the  "  gentlemen's  agreement," 
as  the  result  of  which  Japanese  immigration  has  been 
effectively  checked.  Those  who  are  already  within  our 
borders  it  is  our  duty  to  protect  and  uplift.  That  duty 
we  are  in  honour  bound  to  assume  not  because  of  any 
treaty  we  have  concluded  but  in  deference  to  the  prin- 
ciple which  made  this  nation  morally  great  and  which 
we  have  with  pardonable  pride  proclaimed  to  the  whole 
world.  To  deprive  the  Japanese  wilfully  and  viciously 
of  rights  which  they  have  long  been  permitted  to  enjoy, 
is  not  **  exclusion  "  but  "  extermination  "  and  "  persecu- 
tion."   But  we  must  come  to  the  second  point. 

The  second  point  has  already  been  dealt  with  in  the 
chapter  entitled  "  They  Are  Taking  Our  Farms,"  but 
there  are  some  essential  facts  which  I  must  present  here. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Labour 
Statistics  of  California  agricultural  lands  owned  by 
Japanese  aggregrated  only  12,726  acres,  cut  up  into  331 
farms  assessed  at  $478,990.  Compare  this  with  the  total 
agricultural  lands  in  the  State,  estimated  at  27,931,444 
acres,  and  we  can  see  what  an  insignificant  part  the 
Japanese  land-holdings  constitute.  Again  the  number 
of  farm  operators  in  the  State  is  88,197,  of  whom  66,632 
are  owners.  It  therefore  appears  that  there  is  only  one 
Japanese  landowner  to  every  201  Caucasian  owners. 
During  the  past  decade  or  so  California's  agriculture  has 


174  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

been  declining.  A  study  of  the  census  reveals  interesting 
facts  in  this  connection.  In  ten  years  intervening  1900 
and  1910  there  v^as  a  decrease  in  the  amount  of  land  in 
farms  of  897,597  acres,  and  in  the  amount  of  improved 
land  in  farms  of  568,943  acres.  This  unhappy  condition 
was  no  doubt  partly  due  to  the  movement  of  the  popu- 
lation from  the  country  to  the  city.  In  the  face  of  such 
facts  I  fail  to  see  how  a  body  of  wise  legislators  could 
afford  to  enact  a  law  which  is  calculated  to  drive  out 
thrifty  industrial  farmers. 

There  is  another  consideration.  Those  sections  of 
California  in  which  Japanese  have  been  chiefly  active 
in  agriculture  are  in  the  Sacramento  and  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley.  The  northern  part  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley, 
unlike  the  coast  district  of  California,  is  noted  for  its 
rigorous  winters  and  scorching  summers.  Because  of 
this  climate  the  development  of  the  country  was  long 
delayed.  Certain  sections  of  the  Sacramento  Valley  con- 
sist mostly  of  lowlands,  always  damp  and  often  inun- 
dated. This  section,  therefore,  was  long  regarded  as 
unhealthy,  and  was  shunned  by  most  immigrants.  It 
was  the  Japanese  who  opened  these  countries.  He 
braved  the  heat  and  cold  of  the  northern  San  Joaquin 
Valley,  and  has  converted  it  into  a  thriving  fruit  coun- 
try, famous  for  its  raisins  and  wines.  He  worked  upon 
the  unsanitary  farms  on  the  lower  reaches  of  the  Sac- 
ramento and  the  San  Joaquin  River,  and  has  made  the 
country  rich  with  onions,  potatoes,  beans,  and  fruits. 
Yet  for  this  great  contribution  what  has  the  Japanese 
received  as  reward?  Only  10,000  acres  of  land — 6,000 
acres  in  the  Northern  San  Joaquin  Valley,  and  4,000 
acres  in  the  Sacramento  Valley.  The  valleys  are  in 
themselves  an  empire  containing  some  37,456  square 
miles  of  arable  lands.     In  such  a  vast  territory  10,000 


CALIFORNIA  LAND   IMBROGLIO  175 

acres  owned  by  Japanese  are  nothing  but  a  negligible 
quantity.  And  mind,  every  inch  of  the  10,000  acres  was 
purchased  with  hard-earned  money.  To  disinherit  this 
land  would  be  an  act  unthinkable  in  this  great  country 
of  liberty  and  enlightenment. 

The  third  point  has  been  to  some  extent  dealt  with  in 
Miss  Brown's  letter  to  the  Nation,  already  quoted.  To 
drive  it  further  home  to  the  reader  I  quote  the  following 
passage  from  her  pamphlet  entitled  "  Educatipn  not 
Legislation  " : 

"  Under  our  system  of  lawmaking  any  irresponsible 
person  can  have  a  bill  introduced  and  so  bills  have  been 
brought  forth  with  the  cry  that  the  farmers  demand 
such  laws.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  three  so-called 
'  farmers  *  who  were  permitted  to  go  before  the  Judiciary 
Committee,  did  not  represent  the  vast  intelligent  farm- 
ing class  at  all.  The  real  farmers  were  there,  but  they 
opposed  the  measures,  so  were  denied  a  hearing.  Such 
petitions  as  have  been  gotten  up  represent  an  unthinking, 
prejudiced,  jealous  class  of  people,  largely  non-property- 
owners.  The  better  elements  were  never  approached 
or,  if  they  were,  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it. 
In  this  community  it  was  carried  around  by  a  social 
pariah,  a  man  who  owns  not  a  foot  of  soil. 

"  The  constant  prodding  and  slurring  of  the  Japa- 
nese is  a  habit  of  the  ignorant  of  California.  Their 
ugly  words  pass  unchallenged  and  hence  breed  more. 
The  forces  of  evil  and  ignorance  are  always  rampant; 
the  forces  of  good-will  and  stay-at-home  industry  are 
tranquil.  So  while  prejudice  and  un- Americanism  claim 
to  be  the  voice  of  the  people,  our  real  citizenship  de- 
preciates the  attacks,  deplores  such  bitterness,  but  finds 
all  avenues  for  voicing  objections  closed.  In  local  com- 
munities those  who  come  out  for  justice  and  right  are 


176  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

bitterly  assailed,  and  it  is  the  line  of  least  resistance  to 
be  passive.  Then,  too,  the  latter  always  know  the  un- 
worthiness  of  the  agitator  and  are  reluctant  to  recog- 
nize that  he  can  stir  up  mischief." 

The  fourth  and  last  point  need  not  be  discussed  at 
length.  For  who  under  the  sun  does  not  know  that 
the  law  is  in  direct  contravention  of  the  national  for- 
eign policy  of  the  Wilson  Administration?  President 
Wilson  and  Secretary  Bryan,  seeing  that  the  commerce  of 
America  must  inevitably  expand  towards  the  Orient,  were 
anxious  to  befriend  Japan  and  China.  Especially  were 
they  desirous  of  healing  the  wound  which  we  have  on  more 
occasions  than  one  inflicted  upon  the  pride  of  Japan. 
The  time  seemed  auspicious  for  the  launching  of  such  a 
policy.  The  Japanese  generously  responded  to  the  appeal 
of  the  Panama- Pacific  Exposition  and  showed  a  willing- 
ness to  cooperate  with  the  Federal  Government  in  the 
readjustment  of  relations  between  the  two  nations.  Now 
comes  the  State  legislature  introducing  a  flood  of  bills 
all  aimed  at  discrimination  against  the  Japanese.  To 
say  that  these  bills  are  not  intended  to  offend  any  for- 
eign nation  is  a  mere  subterfuge. 

Yet  amid  the  vituperations  of  the  politicians  and  the 
vociferations  of  the  ignorant,  the  true  spirit  of  the  Re- 
public asserted  itself,  and  called  upon  the  whole  nation, 
like  the  call  of  the  bugle,  to  rally  under  the  standard 
of  justice  and  fairness.  Seldom  before  during  my 
thirteen  years'  residence  in  this  country  have  I  witnessed 
the  true  greatness  of  the  American  nation  so  vividly 
demonstrated  as  on  the  occasion  of  the  land  legislation 
in  California.  Would  that  the  Japanese  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Pacific  could  have  seen  this  imposing  spec- 
tacle! The  majority  of  American  newspapers  and  of 
fair-minded  Americans  turned  a  solid  phalanx  to  the 


CALIFORNIA   LAND   IMBROGLIO  177 

legislators  of  California  and  denounced  their  selfishness 
and  bigotry.  A  minister  declared  from  his  pulpit :  "  The 
California  land  bill  is  something  that  would  disgrace 
hell  in  its  palmiest  days.  It  is  a  piece  of  political  perfidy 
and  rotten  state's  rights — of  proverbial  buncombe — and 
of  a  race  and  religious  bigotry  that  makes  the  Oriental 
heathen  a  Christian  saint  in  comparison.  What  a  lovely 
exhibition  of  low-browed,  hard-hearted  provincialism 
for  a  State  that  intends  to  hold  the  Panama  World's  Fair. 
The  Fair  privilege  should  be  rescinded,  or  if  not  Japan 
and  China  as  well  as  Europe  should  boycott  it." 

Would  such  frank  and  fearless  expression  of  opinion 
be  permitted  in  Japan,  were  the  Parliament  at  Tokyo 
to  adopt  a  measure  discriminating  against  aliens?  May 
not  some  fanatical  patriots  regard  such  outspoken  criti- 
cism as  treason  and  betrayal  of  national  honour?  When 
we  think  of  this  we  realize  that  the  spirit  of  America 
is  not  yet  dead,  that  the  glory  and  greatness  of  the  Re- 
public are  not  a  thing  of  the  past. 

In  the  previous  chapter  I  have  referred  to  the  "  mobs 
and  war  talk"  alleged  to  have  been  brought  out  in 
Tokyo  on  the  eve  of  the  passage  of  the  land  law.  In 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  so-called  "  war-talk  "  has  been 
studiously  exploited  in  America  not  only  by  sensational 
newspapers  but  by  influential  magazines  and  critical 
writers,  it  seems  not  amiss  to  direct  attention  to  a 
passage  in  Dr.  Hamilton  W.  Mabie's  recent  article  in 
the  Outlook,  wherein  this  eminent  scholar  states  that 
"  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  mobs  and  the  clamour  were 
imaginary."  On  the  contrary  "  there  has  been  a  very 
warm  feeling  of  friendship  for  the  United  States  among 
the  Japanese;  a  feeling  of  confidence  and  friendship 
which  has  been  and  may  continue  to  be,  if  wise  counsels 
prevail,  a  very  valuable  asset  in  the  Far  East;  and  the 


178  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

feeling  in  Japan  was  rather  one  of  astonishment  and 
pain  than  of  anger."  Dr.  Francis  G.  Peabody,  of  Har- 
vard, who  also  happened  to  be  in  Japan  at  the  time  when 
"  twenty  thousand  people  "  were  reported  to  be  "  surg- 
ing through  the  streets  of  Tokyo  clamouring  for  war 
with  America,"  testifies  to  the  absurdity  of  such  sen- 
sational reports.  In  refutation  of  a  California  writer's 
statement  that  "  the  abrupt  change  in  California's  atti- 
tude was  but  the  reflection  of  the  Japanese  mailed  fist," 
Dr.  Peabody  has  this  to  say: 

"  This  chronology  of  events  has  no  correspondence, 
so  far  as  I  know,  with  facts  as  seen  in  Japan.  No 
jingo  agitation  occurred  in  Tokyo,  to  my  knowledge, 
until  it  became  evident  that  the  California  legislature 
and  Governor,  in  defiance  of  advice  from  Washington, 
were  determined  to  discriminate  against  Japan.  The 
war  talk  was  even  then  limited  to  a  few  irresponsible 
and  self-interested  demagogues,  who  had  no  influence 
with  the  Japanese  Government  and  were  never  taken 
seriously  by  responsible  people.  To  speak  of  the  Japa- 
nese as  provoking  the  issue,  and  the  Californian  as  sud- 
denly roused  to  resentment  by  Japanese  combativeness, 
seems  to  me  a  complete  inversion  of  the  facts.  Indeed 
the  most  marked  feature  of  public  opinion  in  Japan  has 
been  the  forbearance  with  which  it  has  been  assumed 
that  the  United  States  would  in  the  end  reach  a  just 
conclusion." 

Before  concluding  this  chapter  we  may  be  permitted 
to  set  forth  exact  facts  with  regard  to  alien  landowner- 
ship  in  Japan,  as  the  sponsors  for  the  new  land  law 
of  California  repeatedly  asserted  that  in  depriving  the 
Japanese  of  the  right  of  landownership  California  is 
doing  to  the  Japanese  what  Japan  is  doing  to  the  Ameri- 
cans and  other  foreigners. 


CALIFORNIA  LAND  IMBROGLIO  179 

In  1910  Japan  adopted  a  law  by  virtue  of  which  for- 
eigners were  to  be  permitted  to  own  land,  provided  such 
foreigners  came  from  a  country  where  similar  privilege 
was  extended  to  her  subjects.  The  enforcement  of  this 
law  has  been  delayed  for  various  reasons,  one  of  which 
is  the  difficulty  of  applying  the  reciprocal  principle  to 
such  countries  as  the  United  States  which  has  no  uni- 
form land  law. 

But  the  point  I  desire  to  emphasize  is  that,  even  in 
the  absence  of  the  new  alien  ownership  law,  the  for- 
eigners in  Japan  are  allowed  to  enjoy  almost  all  the 
rights  which  are  enjoyed  by  the  natives.  The  civil  code 
of  Japan,  which  was  adopted  in  1898,  was  drafted  after 
the  Digest  or  Pandect  system,  and  in  consequence  has 
many  points  of  similarity,  as  to  both  form  and  prin- 
ciple, to  the  civil  code  of  France  or  the  Biirgerliches 
Gesetzbuch  of  Germany.  It  recognizes  the  rights  of 
possession  and  ownership,  the  superficies,  the  emphy- 
teusis, the  servitus  proediorum,  the  lien,  the  preferential 
right,  the  right  of  pledge,  and  the  right  of  mortgage. 

Of  these  nine  real  rights  the  right  of  landownership 
will  not  generally  be  conferred  upon  foreigners  until  the 
new  alien  ownership  law  takes  effect.  Of  the  other 
rights  which  are  extended  to  foreigners,  I  call  particular 
attention  to  the  superficies  and  the  emphyteusis.  The 
superficies  is  a  species  of  lease,  but  is  not  encumbered 
with  any  restriction  as  to  its  duration.  It  is  attended 
with  almost  all  the  essential  features  of  ownership.  The 
emphyteusis  is  another  kind  of  lease,  the  duration  of 
which  should  not  be  less  than  25  or  more  than  50 
years.  Without  entering  into  details,  it  may  reasonably 
be  said  that  the  foreigners  allowed  to  acquire  these  real 
rights  virtually  enjoy  the  benefits  of  landownership. 

There  is  another  important  consideration.     The  civil 


l8o  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

code  of  Japan  extends  the  right  of  ownership  to  cor- 
porations organized  by  foreigners  in  conformity  to  the 
requirements  of  Japanese  laws.  To  enjoy  this  privilege 
it  is  not  necessary  that  such  companies  should  include 
any  Japanese  interest.  Moreover,  a  partnership  may 
consist  of  any  number  of  persons  from  two  upwards. 
Suppose  a  partnership  is  composed  of  two  persons.  In 
this  case  one  of  the  duet  may  hold  even  as  much  as  99 
per  cent,  of  the  whole  interest.  If  a  foreigner  desires 
to  acquire  land  under  the  laws  now  in  operation,  it  would 
be  comparatively  easy  for  him  to  attain  the  end  by  or- 
ganizing a  company  with  another  person,  possibly  one 
of  his  intimate  friends,  Japanese  or  foreigner,  and  allow- 
ing the  latter  only  one  per  cent,  of  the  entire  interest. 
In  this  way  he  would  have  virtual  control  of  the  land 
acquired  by  the  company,  for  the  interest  of  his  partner 
would  be  but  nominal.  Or  if  he  does  not  care  to  take 
this  step,  he  may  be  naturalized  and  own  land. 

To  recur  to  the  alien  land  law  of  1910.  This  law  is 
on  a  par  with  any  similar  law  enacted  upon  the  prin- 
ciple of  reciprocity  by  any  other  nation.  It  has,  how- 
ever, one  provision  which  I  consider  unfortunate.  I 
refer  to  the  clause  forbidding  foreigners  to  acquire  land 
in  the  three  territories,  Formosa,  Saghalien,  and  Hok- 
kaido. I  do  not  see  why  the  Japanese  Government 
should  make  such  a  restriction.  Perhaps  the  authorities 
fancy  that  these  new  territories,  being  yet  only  sparsely 
populated,  may  become  dominated  by  foreign  capital, 
if  alien  ownership  of  land  there  be  not  forbidden.  To 
me  such  apprehension  is  absurd.  Capital  is  timid  and 
refuses  to  go  where  profitable  investment  is  problemat- 
ical. Throw  open  all  of  her  territories,  and  Japan  may 
yet  rest  assured  that  foreign  capitalists  will  not  be  so 
quixotic  as   to   invade   snow-bound   Saghalien,   explore 


CALIFORNIA  LAND   IMBROGLIO  l8l 

semi-tropical  Formosa,  and  go  forth  into  the  abode  of 
the  hairy  Ainu.  But  even  if  they  would  go  in  droves 
into  the  remotest  corners  of  the  Mikado's  realm  in  search 
of  land,  what  of  that?  It  would  only  add  to  the  wealth 
and  prosperity  of  the  country.  It  is,  however,  consol- 
ing that  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  exemption  of  the  three 
territories  from  the  provisions  of  the  alien  ownership 
law  will  entail  no  actual  inconvenience  to  foreigners, 
who  would  not  care  to  buy  land  in  such  countries,  pro- 
hibition or  no  prohibition. 

In  addition  to  the  rights  of  foreigners  recognized  in 
the  civil  code  I  must  mention  the  so-called  "  lease-in- 
perpetuity,"  which  the  Europeans  and  Americans  had 
wrested  from  the  Japanese  when  the  latter  were  totally 
inexperienced  in  diplomatic  affairs.  In  every  open  port 
the  Western  powers  caused  the  Japanese  Government  to 
set  apart  an  extensive  tract  of  land  for  the  business  and 
residential  purposes  of  their  citizens  and  subjects.  This 
they  called  the  "  settlement,"  and  such  indeed  it  was, 
for  here  Japan  virtually  forfeited  the  exercise  of  her 
sovereign  rights.  In  the  settlement  the  foreigners  es- 
tablished what  they  pleased  to  call  perpetual  lease.  In 
reality  this  lease  was  the  actual  surrender  of  land  by 
the  Japanese  Government  in  favour  of  the  foreign  resi- 
dents, for  the  latter  never  paid  either  rent  or  tax  upon 
the  properties  they  occupied. 

When  the  inequitable  old  treaties  were  abrogated  in 
1898  the  settlement  was  abolished,  but  the  perpetual 
lease  remained  and  still  remains  intact.  On  the  land 
thus  leased  foreigners  erected  residences  and  office 
buildings  valued  at  millions  of  dollars,  and  yet  they 
refuse  to  pay  tax  on  these  buildings.  Would  any  West- 
ern power  tolerate  such  an  obnoxious  institution?  The 
more  closely  we  look  into  the  matter  the  clearer  does  it 


l82  ASIA   AT   THE   DOOR 

appear  that  the  foreigners  in  Japan  are  allowed  to  act 
much  as  they  please.  They  are  allowed  to  enjoy  almost 
all  the  civil  rights  enjoyed  by  the  native  subjects,  and 
in  addition  they  have  the  benefits  of  the  special  con- 
cessions which  they  secured  from  the  Japanese  when 
the  latter  had  just  awakened  from  a  lethargy  of  cen- 
turies. 


XI 

IN  THE  MELTING  POT  OF  THE  RACES 

"Fair  clime!  where  every  season  smiles 
Benignant  o'er  those  blessed  isles, 
Which,  seen  from  far  Colonna's  height, 
Make  glad  the  heart  that  hails  the  sight, 
And  lend  to  loneliness  delight." 

THUS  did  Byron  sing  of  the  Grecian  isles.  Had 
his  eyes  beheld  the  fair  islands  of  the  Mid- 
Pacific  in  what  superb  language  would  he  have 
described  their  beauty  and  enchantment!  It  seems  a 
sacrilege  to  call  such  a  picturesque  group  of  islands  the 
"melting  pot  of  the  races."  Yet  it  is  the  pride  of  the 
residents  of  Hawaii  to  have  it  so  called,  even  though 
the  name  might  be  an  outrage  to  Nature,  whose  deft 
hands  fashioned  these  gems  of  the  ocean. 

The  Sandwich  Islands,  lying  in  the  middle  of  the 
Pacific  and  between  19  and  23  degrees  N.  latitude,  have 
a  most  delightful  climate,  with  a  temperature  averaging 
75  degrees  through  the  year,  and  ranging  between  the 
extremes  of  60  and  88  degrees.  Even  when  the  sun  of 
day  is  scorching  the  heat  is  agreeably  tempered  by  the 
delicious  trade  winds  which  fan  the  islands  at  regular 
intervals.  It  is  indeed  a  fair  clime  where  every  season 
smiles  benignantly.  The  islands  are,  save  for  a  few 
mosquitoes,  absolutely  free  from  the  disagreeable  in- 
sects and  venomous  reptiles  common  to  the  tropics.  No 
wonder  that  the  Japanese  in  Hawaii  call  the  islands  the 
"  Paradise  in  the  Pacific." 

183 


l84  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

But  the  Sandwich  group  is  not  a  paradise  for  the 
Japanese  alone,  for  here  in  these  islands  more  than  a 
dozen  races  live  amicably  together.  Classified  roughly 
these  numerous  races  fall  under  these  nine  groups: 

Races  Number  in  1910 

Hawaiian 26,041 

Part  Hawaiian  12,506 

Portuguese    22,303 

Spanish    i,990 

Porto  Rican 4.890 

Other  Caucasian   14,867 

Chinese 21,674 

Japanese  79»674 

All  others   7,964 

Total  191,909 

With  all  these  divergent  ethnic  elements,  Hawaii  has  no 
race  problem,  as  the  Americans  there  proudly  tell  us. . 
Perhaps  the  statement  is  too  sweeping,  for  there  are 
various  problems  arising  out  of  the  contact  of  the  races. 
But  if  the  term  "  race  problem  "  is  used  in  the  sense  of 
"  race  hatred,"  certainly  Hawaii  has  reason  to  be  proud 
of  its  absence. 

One  naturally  wonders  how  Hawaii  manages  to  avoid 
conflict  of  races,  while  California,  where  Americans  are 
far  more  firmly  intrenched  than  in  Hawaii,  is  constantly 
harassed  by  agitation  against  Orientals.  Hawaii  has 
only  29,183  Caucasians  as  against  94,348  Chinese  and 
Japanese,  whereas  there  are  in  California  2,259,672 
Caucasians  as  against  41,356  Japanese  and  36,248  Chi- 
nese. And  yet  the  Americans  in  the  Territory  are  per- 
fectly sanguine  as  to  their  ability  to  maintain  their  civili- 
zation and  ideals  unaffected  by  alien  races,  and  their 
capacity  ultimately  to  assimilate  them  and  make  them 
loyal  citizens  of  the  Republic.  For  this  peculiar  com- 
placency and  conviction  various  circumstances  are  re- 
sponsible. 


IN  THE  MELTING   POT   OF  THE  RACES       185 

The  first  of  these  is  perhaps  the  abiding  influence  of 
the  missionaries  who  opened  the  country  to  civiHzation. 
In  no  other  part  of  the  non-Caucasian  world  has  modern 
missionary  enterprise  effected  so  much  social  and  po- 
litical good  as  in  the  Sandwich  Islands.  Beginning  with 
1822  missionaries  poured  in  from  the  United  States,  and 
through  their  labours  the  Hawaiian  language  was  for 
the  first  time  reduced  into  writing.  Schools  were  estab- 
lished, laws  were  codified,  public  works  were  undertaken, 
and  in  1840  King  Kamehameha  IV  was  induced  to 
grant  a  liberal  constitution.  In  all  these  reforms  the 
missionaries  were  chiefly  instrumental.  Ever  since  that 
time  their  influence  has  been  strongly  felt  among  all 
classes  of  people  and  in  every  phase  of  life.  The  ex- 
ample of  charity  and  love  set  by  the  missionaries  has 
in  the  main  been  followed  by  other  classes.  To-day 
many  of  the  pioneer  missionaries  have  already  passed 
into  the  unknown  beyond,  but  their  descendants,  whether 
in  evangelical  work  or  in  the  lay  world,  have  not  as  a 
rule  deviated  from  the  tradition  bequeathed  by  their 
fathers. 

Equally  significant  is  the  fact  that  before  the  advent 
of  Chinese  and  Japanese  the  Americans  in  the  islands 
had  long  been  in  contact  with  dark-skinned  people.  The 
native  Hawaiians,  numbering  some  140,000  when  found 
by  missionaries,  were  not  only  dark-skinned  but  semi- 
civilized.  Dr.  Anderson,  one  of  the  first  missionaries 
in  the  archipelago,  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  the 
Hawaiian  nation  was  composed  of  thieves,  drunkards, 
and  debauchees,  and  the  people  who  were  slaves  to  the 
sovereign.  Compared  with  such  people  Chinese  and 
Japanese  labourers  imported  to  the  islands  must  have 
appeared  far  superior  in  every  respect.  The  Americans 
who  had  befriended  even  the  semi-savage  natives  had 


i86  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

little  reason  to  cherish  prejudice  against  these  new- 
comers from  the  Orient.  Many  of  the  early  immigrants 
from  Japan  wore  the  kimono,  which  to  the  Americans  on 
the  mainland  would  seem  all  too  exotic,  not  to  say  in- 
decent. But  to  those  who  had  been  accustomed  to  see 
the  native  Hawaiians  with  almost  no  dress  but  what 
nature  bestowed  upon  them,  even  the  flowing  national 
costume  of  Nippon  seemed  a  mark  of  advanced  civiliza- 
tion. The  missionaries,  properly  shocked  by  the  naked- 
ness of  the  aborigines,  introduced  a  pecuHar  costume, 
consisting  of  long  skirts  and  high  waists,  with  no  under- 
wear. Even  this  simple  apparel  was  detested  by  these 
children  of  nature  who  would  go  naked  even  for  decent 
attendance  at  church.  The  time  is  still  in  the  memory 
of  many  Americans  when  the  natives  brought  on  Sunday 
all  their  clothing  in  a  bundle  to  the  door  of  the  church 
where  they  dressed,  and  after  service  doffing  their  cos- 
tume, carried  it  homeward  under  their  arms.  Nothing, 
therefore,  which  the  Orientals  did  in  the  islands  ap- 
peared to  the  American  residents  either  exotic  or  in- 
decent. 

The  fact  that  the  American  community  of  Hawaii  is 
essentially  an  aristocratic  community  is  also  no  doubt 
responsible  for  the  absence  of  race  hatred.  Besides  the 
missionaries  the  predominating  factor  in  the  American 
population  in  the  Territory  consists  of  sugar  planters. 
Beneath  these  men  of  wealth  and  luxury  there  is  no 
class  in  the  social  scale  of  Hawaii  but  the  mass  of  human 
atoms  employed  on  their  plantations  as  farm  hands. 
Even  the  descendants  of  missionaries  are  living  com- 
fortably if  not  luxuriously,  on  the  estates  bequeathed  by 
their  fathers,  many  of  whom  acquired  extensive  tracts  of 
land  under  the  old  regime,  when  land  could  be  secured 
for  a  ridiculously  small  price.    Thus  those  on  the  upper 


IN  THE   MELTING   POT   OF  THE  RACES       187 

rounds  of  the  social  ladder  could  with  complacency  look 
at  those  at  its  foot,  for  they  felt  sure  that  their  supremacy 
and  superiority  could  never  be  challenged  by  the  latter. 
We  know  that  it  is  exactly  such  a  gulf  between  the  rich 
and  the  poor  which  in  democratic  countries  causes  the 
social  war,  the  conflict  between  capital  and  labour.  But 
in  a  country  where  the  labouring  class  is  completely 
dominated  by  the  capitalist  class  and  has  not  yet  awak- 
ened to  the  consciousness  of  its  potential  power,  the  very 
gulf  serves  to  strengthen  the  position  of  the  wealthy 
class.  This  is  exactly  the  condition  in  Hawaii.  Those 
Americans  who  constitute  Hawaii's  aristocracy,  or 
plutocracy,  if  you  will,  are  too  confident  of  their  supe- 
riority to  hate  those  races  who  are  hewing  wood  and 
drawing  water  for  them.  For  people  begin  to  hate 
other  races  only  when  they  are  doubtful  of  their  own 
superiority.  The  Southern  aristocrat  never  hated  the 
negro;  it  was  only  those  poor  whites  who  were  not  so 
sure  of  their  superiority  that  hated  him. 

When  Oriental  labour  was  introduced  into  the  archi- 
pelago there  was  no  white  labour  with  which  it  could 
come  in  competition.  True  there  were  Portuguese  who 
were  paid  higher  wages  than  Oriental  labourers,  but  the 
plantations  were  always  suffering  from  labour  famine 
to  such  an  extent  that  neither  the  Japanese  nor  the  Chi- 
nese ever  displaced  any  Portuguese.  This  absence  of 
competition  among  labourers  of  different  races  is  un- 
doubtedly one  of  the  facts  which  account  for  the  amica- 
ble relations  existing  among  the  many  races  in  the  Terri- 
tory. 

Chinese  were  the  first  alien  labourers  brought  to  the 
islands  in  large  numbers.  But  before  the  advent  of  the 
celestials  Caucasian  blood  had  already  left  its  impress 
on  the  native  Hawaiians.    Whether  that  impress  was  for 


l88  ASIA   AT   THE   DOOR 

the  good  or  for  the  evil  of  the  natives  it  is  difficult  to 
say.  Those  Caucasians  who  came  in  promiscuous  con- 
tact with  Hawaiian  women  were  no  doubt  mostly  de- 
bauching sailors,  whose  boast  was  that  they  had  their 
wives  in  every  port  where  their  boats  stopped.  The  evil 
influence  of  such  libertines  can  readily  be  understood 
if  we  only  recall  that  the  natives  were  the  offspring  of 
the  animal  rather  than  of  the  intellectual  faculties,  gov- 
erned by  traditional  customs  of  a  very  low  order,  and 
leading  a  life  of  idleness  and  enervation,  content  with 
what  voluntary  gifts  the  bountiful  Nature  of  the  tropics 
might  have  to  offer  them.  The  moral  effects  of  such 
influence  were  deplorable  enough,  but  the  physical  de- 
generation into  which  it  led  the  natives  was  even  more 
alarming.  It  introduced  vices  and  diseases  previously 
unknown  among  the  Hawaiians.  Without  ascribing  the 
rapid  decrease  of  the  native  population  solely  to  the  in- 
jection of  such  evils,  it  may  well  be  said  that  the  natives 
would  have  been  better  off,  had  they  been  immune  from 
the  influence  inevitably  resulting  from  Hawaii's  geo- 
graphical position  as  the  rendezvous  of  innumerable 
whalers  and  merchant  vessels. 

After  the  seafaring  Caucasians  came  the  Chinese. 
With  the  growth  of  the  sugar  industry  Hawaii  felt  the 
necessity  of  importing  Oriental  labour.  In  1865  the 
Royal  Government  of  Hawaii  commissioned  Dr.  William 
Hillebrand  to  go  to  China  and  obtain  labour  for  planta- 
tions. The  commissioner  came  back  in  the  autumn  of 
the  same  year,  bringing  with  him  some  200  Chinese. 
That  was  the  first  assisted  immigration  of  Chinese  to 
Hawaii.  From  that  time  the  Chinese  population  grew 
steadily  until  in  1900  it  reached  25,762.  From  that 
high  water-mark  it  declined  gradually  until  to-day  it 
numbers  21,674. 


IN   THE   MELTING   POT   OF  THE   RACES       189 

The  most  significant  thing  about  the  Chinese  in 
Hawaii  is  that  they  freely  married  natives,  thus  creat- 
ing a  new  type  of  composite  race.  It  is  commonly  ad- 
mitted that  the  children  of  Chinese-Hawaiian  marriages 
"  combine  the  kindly,  generous  disposition  of  the 
Hawaiian  race  with  the  honesty,  domesticity,  persever- 
ance, frugality,  and  business  acumen  of  the  Chinese." 
And  yet  it  would  seem  highly  doubtful  whether  the  in- 
tellectual quality  of  the  Chinese  could  be  improved  by 
fusing  his  blood  with  that  of  a  race  to  which  the  world 
is  like  a  great  playground  or  a  dreamland,  where  no 
one  need  toil  severely  or  cherish  any  aspiration  for 
higher  attainments.  Intermarriage  can  result  in  mutual 
benefit  only  when  contracted  between  members  of  races 
whose  respective  civilizations  and  cultures  are  on  a  sim- 
ilar, if  not  the  same,  plane  or  stage.  A  race  which  has 
an  intensely  cultivated  civilization  cannot  with  advantage 
fuse  with  another  race  which  has  not  yet  fully  emerged 
from  a  primitive  state  of  culture. 

With  the  decline  of  the  Chinese  population  Portu- 
guese were  brought  in  in  increasingly  large  numbers. 
Along  with  the  Portuguese  Japanese  were  also  imported, 
to  be  followed  by  Porto  Ricans,  and  in  recent  periods 
by  Filipinos  and  Russians. 

From  the  numerical  point  of  view  the  future  princi- 
pal races  of  Hawaii  may  be  the  Japanese  and  Portu- 
guese, for  the  fecundity  of  one  is  just  as  great  as  that 
of  the  other.  At  present  there  are  only  22,303  Portu- 
guese as  against  79,674  Japanese,  but  hereafter  the 
number  of  Portuguese  and  Spanish  will  increase  rapidly, 
as  it  is  the  policy  of  the  Territorial  Government  to 
assist  in  the  importation  of  Portuguese  and  Spanish  in 
families.  This  policy  has  already  been  practised  for  the 
past  five  years,  during  which  the  Government  brought 


190  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

5,288  Spanish  and  4,962  Portuguese.  The  only  setback 
to  this  policy  is  that  these  European  immigrants  cannot 
be  tied  to  the  plantations,  as  are  the  Japanese.  While 
the  Japanese  are  forbidden  to  migrate  from  Hawaii  to 
the  mainland,  there  are  no  such  restrictive  laws  applicable 
to  European  immigrants.  The  result  is  that  many  of  the 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  imported  at  great  cost  leave 
the  islands  at  the  first  convenient  opportunity  for  con- 
tinental United  States,  where  they  can  earn  higher 
wages.  In  spite  of  this  drawback  the  Spanish  and  Portu- 
guese will  no  doubt  increase  much  more  rapidly  than 
hitherto,  if  the  Government  continues  the  present  policy. 
On  the  other  hand  the  "  gentlemen's  agreement "  con- 
cluded between  Tokyo  and  Washington  in  1907  effec- 
tively checked  Japanese  immigration.  During  the  past 
four  years  the  number  of  Japanese  departures  from  the 
islands  has  been  much  larger  than  that  of  Japanese  ar- 
rivals. The  Japanese  population  in  the  archipelago 
would,  therefore,  decrease  as  steadily  as  has  the  Chi- 
nese, if  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that  under  the  same 
agreement  the  Japanese  now  in  the  islands  are  permitted 
to  send  for  their  wives  whom  they  left  in  Japan.  As 
they  realize  the  advantage  of  remaining  permanently  in 
the  Territory  they  will  avail  themselves  of  this  right 
and  are  making  homes  with  their  helpmeets  who  come 
from  Japan  to  join  them.  This  cannot  but  result  in  in- 
creasing Hawaiian-born  Japanese.  At  the  same  time  it 
is  highly  doubtful  that  the  Japanese  population  will  in- 
crease at  the  same  rate  as  the  births  of  Japanese  chil- 
dren. Some  of  the  native-born  Japanese  will  go  to 
Japan,  but  the  more  important  fact  is  that  these  Japa- 
nese, being  American  citizens  by  reason  of  birth,  are 
free  to  migrate  to  continental  United  States.  This  privi- 
lege of  citizenship  they  will  undoubtedly  utilize  freely, 


IN  THE   MELTING   POT   OF  THE  RACES       IQI 

as  they  cannot  be  expected  to  be  contented  with  planta- 
tion labour,  when  their  ambitions  are  awakened  through 
modern  education. 

And  yet  one  thing  seems  certain,  namely,  that  the  two 
vital  races  in  the  Sandwich  Islands  will  be  Portuguese 
and  Japanese.  The  native  Hawaiians  are  either  afflicted 
by  contagious  disease  or  addicted  to  alcoholism,  enervat- 
ing themselves  by  consanguinary  marriage  or  destroy- 
ing themselves  by  practices  born  of  superstition  and  igno- 
rance. The  Chinese  are  mostly  old  men,  while  the 
native-bom  Chinese,  whether  pure-blooded  or  infused 
with  Hawaiian  blood,  are  not  very  fecund.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Portuguese  are  a  remarkably  thriving 
race.  While  in  the  islands  I  heard  of  many  Portuguese 
families  blessed  with  more  than  ten  children.  On  the 
whole,  the  birth-rate  among  the  Portuguese  may  be  even 
higher  than  that  among  the  Japanese. 

This  suggests  the  question :  "  Will  the  two  races,  the 
Japanese  and  the  Portuguese,  be  friendly  towards  each 
other  as  both  grow  in  number  and  influence  ? "  The 
question  is  not  easy  to  answer.  But  judged  from  present 
indications  their  future  relations  do  not  seem  to  justify 
pessimism.  Either  on  plantations  or  in  cities  there  has 
never  been  any  trouble  between  the  two  races.  True, 
there  have  been  but  few  cases  of  intermarriage,  but  this 
is  mainly  because  women,  whether  Japanese  or  Portu- 
guese, have  been  comparatively  few.  As  the  children 
of  both  races  are  now  taught  in  the  same  schools  and  in 
the  common  language,  the  future  relations  between  the 
Portuguese  and  Japanese  promise  to  be  far  more  inti- 
mate. When  the  present  school  children  come  of  age 
intermarriage  between  the  two  races  will  be  more  fre- 
quent. 

The   most    interesting    subject   of   study    relating   to 


192  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

Hawaii  is  its  educational  institutions,  public  and  private. 
Until  one  visits  one  of  these  schools  and  observes  boys 
and  girls  of  all  races  studying  together  in  classrooms, 
one  cannot  fully  understand  why  Hawaii  is  the  "  melting 
pot  of  the  races."  Of  school  children  of  various  races 
the  Japanese  are  most  numerous,  numbering,  in  191 1, 
8,368;  the  Portuguese  come  second  with  4,214,  to  be 
followed  by  Hawaiian,  part-Hawaiian,  and  Chinese  chil- 
dren in  the  order  named.  Including  other  ingredients 
in  the  "  melting  pot  "of  public  instruction  we  obtain  the 
following  figures: 

No.  school  children 

Nationality  in  191 1 

Hawaiian    3,453 

Part-Hawaiian  2,765 

American    459 

British    85 

German  179 

Portuguese 4,214 

Scandinavian    

Japanese  8,368 

Chinese  2,471 

Porto  Rican    510 

Korean  274 

Other   foreigners    974 

Total  23,752 

It  is  indeed  inspiring  to  see  children  of  all  these  differ- 
ent races  freely  mingling  with  one  another  either  in 
study  or  in  play,  with  no  knowledge  of  race  hatred  or 
prejudice.  Here  in  these  small  isles  God's  invisible  hands 
seem  to  be  moulding  a  harmonious  human  society  out 
of  the  divergent  races  which  He  created.  But  the  study 
of  school  children  does  not  reveal  the  full  meaning  of 
His  work,  for  a  glance  at  the  personnel  of  the  teaching 
force  is  even  more  interesting.  Here  is  an  army  of 
teachers  commanded  by  Americans  but  consisting  of 
members  of  many  races — ^Americans,  Hawaiians,   Chi- 


IN  THE   MELTING   POT   OF  THE  RACES       193 

nese,  Portuguese,  part-Hawaiians,  and  Japanese.  Of 
Chinese  and  Japanese  teachers  there  are  about  twenty, 
divided  equally  between  them.  All  the  Japanese  teachers 
are  girls  born  and  educated  in  Hawaii.  If  the  assimila- 
bility  of  the  Japanese  needs  substantiation,  no  finer  ex- 
ample can  be  found  than  these  thoroughly  Americanized 
Japanese  school  teachers  in  Hawaii.  In  manner,  in 
bearing,  in  deportment,  there  is  in  them  nothing  that 
suggests  their  sisters  in  the  Mikado's  land.  In  no  coun- 
try where  race  prejudice  prevents  sympathetic  and 
equitable  treatment  of  aliens  is  such  complete  assimila- 
tion of  an  Oriental  race  possible.  With  this  fact  in  view 
the  following  passage  from  an  essay  by  President  Grif- 
fiths of  Oahu  College  is  of  special  interest: 

"  The  picture  of  industrious  contentment  has  made 
many  a  visitor  from  California  exclaim  over  the  con- 
trast between  the  Chinese  in  Hawaii  and  the  kind  that 
has  settled  in  California.  But  the  man  is  the  same,  often 
coming  from  the  same  village  and  district,  and  even 
from  the  same  family ;  the  difference  is  that  the  best  has 
been  drawn  out  in  Hawaii,  while  the  sister  Common- 
wealth, by  repression  and  cruelty,  has  developed  his 
baser  qualities.  While  he  has  been  subject  to  revilings 
and  physical  abuse  in  California,  in  Hawaii  he  has  had 
opportunities  for  labour  and  self-improvement,  spirit- 
ually and  intellectually,  as  well  as  materially  and  finan- 
cially. The  generous  treatment  given  him  by  mission- 
aries in  private  schools  was  continued  in  the  public 
schools  under  conditions  favourable  to  his  best  develop- 
ment. He  has  lived  on  terms  of  pleasant  amity,  both 
receiving  and  giving  in  return." 

The  good  example  set  by  the  missionaries  in  the  field 
of  education  cannot  be  too  highly  appreciated.  By  the 
advice  of  the  early  missionaries  and  through  their  or- 


194  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

ganizing  power,  the  King  and  Legislature,  under  the  old 
regime,  made  provision  for  the  establishment  of  public 
schools,  which  formed  the  foundation  of  the  present  sys- 
tem of  education  in  the  Territory.  Besides  assisting  in 
the  inauguration  of  public  schools,  the  missionaries 
established  private  schools  based  upon  the  Christian 
principle  of  love  and  fraternity.  Of  this  enterprise  Oahu 
College  and  the  Mid-Pacific  Institute,  both  at  Honolulu, 
are  noble  monuments.  The  Normal  and  Training  School 
at  Hilo,  though  not  a  missionary  enterprise,  is  also  ani- 
mated with  Christian  ideals.  The  Mid-Pacific  Institute, 
through  the  efforts  of  its  treasurer,  Mr.  Theodore  Rich- 
ards, brought  several  young  men  from  Japan  and  con- 
ferred upon  them  scholarships  provided  for  the  specific 
object  of  promoting  peaceful  and  friendly  relationship 
between  Japan  and  the  United  States. 

With  all  the  educational  facilities  afforded  in  the 
islands,  there  is  much  room  for  improvement  in  the 
equipment  of  schools.  The  Territorial  college  is  far 
from  what  it  should  be,  while  the  rural  schools  are  not 
well  appointed.  In  some  villages  public  schools  are 
housed  in  such  small  buildings  that  some  of  the  classes 
have  to  meet  in  buildings  belonging  to  Japanese  Chris- 
tian or  Buddhist  missions.  Most  village  or  plantation 
schools  maintained  by  the  Territory  are  not  as  attract- 
ive in  appearance  as  the  schools  maintained  by  the  Japa- 
nese. Such  a  state  of  things  is  extremely  deplorable. 
In  every  village  where  schools  are  needed  the  Territorial 
Government  should  build  respectable,  even  imposing, 
schoolhouses,  which  should,  in  the  eyes  of  immigrants 
and  their  children,  stand  symbols  of  the  advanced  civili- 
zation of  the  American  nation.  They  should  be  shrines 
where  children  of  aliens  enter  with  a  sense  of  reverence. 
In  such  villages  as  those  in  Hawaii  schools  are  almost  the 


IN  THE  MELTING   POT   OF  THE  RACES       195 

only  institution  which  suggest  anything  of  civiHzation; 
the  rest  consists  of  plantation  camps  and  cane  fields. 
Are  the  existing  rural  schools  adequate  to  fulfil  the 
missions  peculiar  to  Hawaii?  Flattery  itself  will  have 
to  hesitate  to  answer  this  question  in  the  affirmative. 
What  impressions  of  American  civilization  would  the 
guileless  children  of  Japanese  plantation  labourers  de- 
rive from  the  public  schools  whose  buildings  are  no 
better,  if  not  worse,  than  the  Buddhist  temples  or  the 
private  schools  maintained  by  their  parents? 

There  seems  to  be  a  certain  force,  and  a  very  power- 
ful one,  arrayed  against  the  promotion  of  education 
among  the  children  of  plantation  hands.  When  I  was 
in  Hilo  a  plantation  manager  naively  said  to  me :  "  It 
should  be  the  duty  of  learned  men  like  you  to  urge  the 
sons  of  workmen  to  stay  on  the  plantation  after  they  are 
through  schools."  This  straightforward  remark  perhaps 
indicates  the  nature  of  the  force  which  is  opposed  to  pro- 
viding better  educational  facilities  in  the  islands.  My 
view  of  the  situation  is  sustained  by  the  following  pas- 
sage found  in  the  report  of  a  special  educational  com- 
mission appointed  by  the  Governor  a  few  years  ago: 

*'  In  the  Territory  there  is  a  very  powerful  element 
both  openly  and  covertly  declaring  that  too  much  educa- 
tion is  being  given  the  children  of  lowly  birth." 

The  report  also  points  out  the  following  defects  in  the 
existing  educational  system  of  Hawaii: 

1.  The  number  of  available  teachers  has  been  far  be- 
low the  need.  Salaries  of  teachers  have  been  always 
inadequate  and  at  times  distressingly  low. 

2.  Uncertificated  teachers  of  deficient  qualifications 
have  been  employed  in  large  numbers. 

3.  Overcrowding  of  buildings  has  been  perennial. 

4.  Per  capita  cost  of  education  has  been  kept  below 


196  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

that  of  other  progressive  communities — below  average 
cost  in  the  United  States — notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
in  Hawaii  the  cost  of  educating  a  public  school  pupil  is 
distributed  among  ten  of  population  as  against  a  ratio 
of  a  little  less  than  one  to  five  in  the  United  States  as 
a  whole. 

5.  Stated  in  other  words,  though  the  men  of  Hawaii 
have  had  less  than  half  the  burden  of  public  education 
that  men  elsewhere  are  bearing,  yet  they  have  not  been 
willing  to  bear  even  this  half  burden  either  capably  or 
with  entire  cheerfulness. 

It  is  indeed  regrettable  that  while  tens  of  millions  of 
dollars  are  being  poured  into  the  fortifications  of  Hawaii 
its  public  schools  should  be  permitted  to  remain  in  such 
unsatisfactory  conditions.  That  fortification  is  obviously 
directed  against  Japan,  the  one  nation  in  the  world  which 
will  never  attack  the  American  territory  unless  forced 
to  do  so  by  the  provocative  attitude  of  our  own  people. 
The  fortification  is  superfluous  and  the  money  expended 
will  be  wasted.  How  much  wiser  and  more  sensible  to  ex- 
pend a  few  million  dollars  for  schools  and  libraries  and 
thus  win  the  affection  and  loyalty  of  the  Orientals,  in- 
stead of  wasting  twenty-million  dollars  for  the  construc- 
tion of  forts  and  naval  bases!  Apart  from  such  moral 
significance,  there  is  to  be  considered  the  question  of  un- 
happy influence  of  soldiers  upon  the  civilian  population. 
Already  the  Japanese  living  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
military  barracks  have  begun  to  complain  of  the  dis- 
orderly conduct  of  the  troopers.  It  is  consoling  to  think 
that  this  armament  scheme  of  the  Federal  Government 
is  deeply  regretted  by  the  moral  leaders  of  Hawaii.  Mr. 
Theodore  Richards  expresses  the  general  sentiment  of 
such  leaders  when  he  pleads  for  ^'  a  million  for  defence 
to  partly  offset  twenty  million  for  oflfense,"  arguing  that 


IN  THE   MELTING   POT   OF  THE  RACES       197 

the  extensive  system  of  forts  and  mines  against  Japa- 
nese would  be  far  more  effectively  replaced  by  a  friendly 
appeal  to  them  on  educational  and  social  lines. 

Such  a  friendly  appeal  has  just  been  made.  As  I  write 
the  leading  citizens  of  Hawaii  issue  an  open  letter  plead- 
ing for  the  naturalization  of  the  Japanese.  The  plea, 
coming  as  it  does  at  the  moment  when  both  Japan  and 
the  Federal  Government  are  at  a  loss  to  find  the  way 
out  of  the  California  land  imbroglio,  is  especially  appeal- 
ing. It  contends  that  the  only  way  to  prevent  the  de- 
velopment of  such  embarrassing  situations  as  have  been 
created  by  the  land  legislation  in  California  is  to  grant 
the  Japanese  the  privilege  of  naturalization ;  it  expresses 
a  strong  confidence  in  the  assimilability  of  the  Japanese ; 
it  argues  that  the  proverbial  patriotism  of  the  Japanese, 
instead  of  being  an  obstacle  to  their  Americanization, 
would  prove  an  asset  to  the  United  States,  once  they  are 
permitted  to  swear  allegiance  to  the  Republic.  The  sig- 
natories to  the  letter  are  all  prominent  Americans  in 
Hawaii  representing  all  fields  of  activities — educators, 
pastors,  missionaries,  editors,  bankers,  merchants,  and 
men  connected  with  sugar  plantations. 

The  leading  Americans  in  Hawaii  believe  it  to  be  their 
mission  to  demonstrate  the  possibility  of  fusing  diverse 
races,  and  in  the  educational,  social,  and  political  crucible 
to  turn  them  into  homogeneous  Americans.  The  task 
seems  herculean.  Can  it  be  done?  The  most  thought- 
ful educators  of  the  Territory  answer,  emphatically, 
"  Yes.  It  is  being  done  now.  It  has  been  done.  Both 
Chinese  and  Japanese  born  and  nurtured  in  Hawaii  are 
among  our  best  citizens.'' 

At  the  same  time  Hawaii  must  most  jealously  guard 
itself  against  the  undesirable  influence  which  must  in- 
evitably result  from  the  increasingly  greater  influx  of 


198  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

immigrants  from  Russia  and  Southern  Europe.  This 
seems  a  task  no  less  difficult  than  the  assimilation  of 
Orientals.  And  yet  the  Americans  in  the  islands  are 
perfectly  confident  of  their  ability  to  dominate  the  Terri- 
tory. That  confidence  is  well  expressed  by  President 
Griffiths  when  he  says: 

*'  Hawaii  at  present  is  absolutely  American,  not  only 
in  its  affiliations,  but  also  in  the  very  fibre  of  its  thought. 
By  aggressiveness  and  cohesion  in  thought  and  action, 
io,ocx)  Americans  have  absolutely  dominated  a  territory 
with  170,000  people.  Immigrants  have  been  assimilated. 
Through  the  medium  of  the  pubHc  schools,  children  of 
foreigners  have  been  made  into  patriotic  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  Uncle  Sam.  The  Asiatic  has  not  affected  the 
political  or  social  fabric.  He  has  been  in,  but  not  of, 
the  life  of  the  Islands.  He  has  lived  side  by  side  with 
the  dominant  race,  which  has  not  yielded  or  given  way." 
May  the  fair  isles  forever  remain  the  abode  of  good- 
will and  fraternity,  the  triumph  of  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
.'  and  the  conquest  of  race  prejudice  by  force  of  sympathy 
and  justice! 


XII 
"THEY  HAVE  USURPED  HAWAII" 

IT  has  become  a  fashion  among  American  critics  to 
speak  of  the  "  Japanese  usurpation  "  of  Hawaii,  as 
if  Japan  has  done  something  she  ought  not  to  have 
done.  The  truth  is  that  the  islanders  of  Nippon  would 
never  have  usurped  Hawaii,  had  they  not  been  invited 
and  coaxed  by  all  means  to  do  so.  We  are  a  singular 
nation,  letting  big  interests  bring  all  sorts  of  aliens  pell- 
mell,  and  when  these  aliens  take  hold,  making  our  grum- 
blings heard  in  a  manner  not  always  rational.  Let  me 
tell  you  how  the  Japanese  had  to  usurp  Hawaii,  willy- 
nilly. 

In  1868  a  steamer  appeared  in  Tokyo  Bay,  and  created 
a  sensation  among  the  natives  of  Nippon  with  an  an- 
nouncement that  she  came  there  to  recruit  labourers  for 
sugar  plantations  in  Hawaii.  The  Sunrise  Empire  had 
been  opened  to  foreign  intercourse  only  a  decade,  and 
the  people  had  known  nothing  of  the  plantations  in  the 
Mid-Pacific  islands.  So  they  took  but  little  interest  in 
the  announcement,  but  a  small  number,  less  than  fifty, 
were  induced  to  sail.  That  was  the  beginning  of  the 
Japanese  "  invasion  "  of  Hawaii. 

And  yet  the  men  who  so  earnestly  invited  Japanese 
invasion  treated  the  pioneer  invaders  from  the  Orient  in 
no  generous  manner.  From  the  stories  told  by  later  im- 
migrants there  is  no  doubt  that  these  early  labourers  from 
the  Orient  met  brutal  treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  plan- 

199 


200  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

tation  overseers.  The  rumours  of  inhuman  treatment, 
somewhat  exaggerated  as  they  travelled  across  the  ocean, 
reached  the  Japanese  authorities,  who  thought  it  their 
duty  to  despatch  a  vessel  to  Hawaii  and  recover  the 
labourers  who  had  been  taken  there.  That  ended  the 
prelude  to  the  Japanese  usurpation  of  Hawaii,  for  the 
Mikado's  Government  saw  no  wisdom  in  sending  immi- 
grants into  a  country  where  they  were  likely  to  be  sub- 
jected to  maltreatment. 

But  the  sugar  interests  did  not  give  up  the  scheme  so 
easily.  They  were  simply  biding  their  time  to  renew 
negotiations  with  the  Japanese.  So  in  1884,  when  six- 
teen years'  interval  dimmed  the  memory  of  the  unhappy 
experience  of  the  early  immigrants,  the  planters  induced 
the  Hawaiian  Government  to  approach  the  Japanese 
Government  with  a  view  to  resuming  the  importation  of 
Japanese  labourers.  The  Mikado's  Government,  with 
due  regard  to  its  dignity,  declined  to  enter  into  any 
agreement  which  would  make  it  a  sort  of  labour  agency, 
but  consented  to  connive  at  the  shipment  of  labourers 
in  a  tentative  way.  That  resulted  in  the  introduction  of 
953  Japanese, — 676  men,  156  women,  and  108  children. 
Again  the  result  was  unsatisfactory  and  the  Tokyo  Gov- 
ernment decided  to  suspend  further  emigration  of  its 
subjects  to  Hawaii. 

For  the  third  time  the  planters,  through  the  Hawaiian 
Government,  made  earnest  efforts  to  persuade  the  Japa- 
nese Government  to  open  the  doors  for  emigrants  to 
Hawaii.  Japan  was  in  no  mood  to  lend  ear  to  the 
representations  of  the  planters,  but  the  latter 's  repeated 
solicitations  finally  resulted  in  a  labour  convention  be- 
tween the  Mikado's  and  the  Hawaiian  Government.  By 
that  time  Japan  had  perceived  the  necessity  of  a  formal 
agreement  of  a  nature  to  prevent  the  ill-treatment  of 


"THEY  HAVE  USURPED  HAWAH"  20I 

Japanese  labourers  upon  the  plantations.  The  conven- 
tion was  concluded  in  March,  1886,  and  a  few  more 
shiploads  of  Japanese  labourers  were  brought  to  the 
islands.  And  yet  news  of  abuse  and  inhuman  treat- 
ment did  not  cease  to  filter  out  of  the  plantations.  The 
Administration  at  Tokyo,  weary  of  handling  the  perplex- 
ing problem,  determined  to  put  an  end  to  emigration  to 
Hawaii,  and  with  that  end  in  view  declined  in  1891  to 
renew  the  convention  of  1886. 

By  this  time,  however,  many  emigration  companies  had 
sprung  into  existence  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  emi- 
gration to  Hawaii.  They  were  subsidized  by  the  plant- 
ers, and  made  much  profit  by  squeezing  emigrants. 
Through  the  combined  efforts  of  the  sugar  interests  and 
the  emigration  companies,  the  Japanese  Government 
was  once  again  coaxed  to  reenter  into  a  convention  with 
the  Hawaiian  Kingdom.  All  these  occurred  before  the 
annexation  of  Hawaii  by  the  United  States.  Japan's 
object  in  concluding  labour  conventions  with  the  Ha- 
waiian authorities,  as  may  be  surmised  from  the  follow- 
ing provisions  found  in  those  instruments,  was  to  safe- 
guard the  equitable  and  humane  treatment  of  her  emi- 
grant subjects: 

1.  Each  contract  was  to  be  signed  by  the  labourer 
as  one  party  and  the  Hawaiian  Government  as  the  other, 
at  Yokohama,  for  a  period  of  three  years,  at  a  wage  of 
$9  a  month  and  $6  food  allowance.  The  labourer  was 
free  to  extend  this  contract  for  two  years  more  at  the 
time  of  its  expiration. 

2.  A  specified  number  of  Japanese  interpreters  and 
physicians  were  to  be  employed  in  behalf  of  the  emi- 
grants, originally  at  the  expense  of  the  Hawaiian  Gov- 
ernment, but  later  at  the  cost  of  the  labourers  them- 
selves. 


202  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

3.  The  Government  of  Hawaii  was  made  responsible 
for  damages  due  for  the  cruel  treatment  of  labourers. 

4.  Twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  labourer's  wages  were 
I  to  be  deposited  with  the  Hawaiian  Government,  to  be 
'paid  to  the  labourer  upon  the  expiration  of  his  contract, 
I  and  to  draw  five  per  cent,  annual  interest  during  the  in- 
I  tervening  period. 

5.  The  Hawaiian  Government  was  required  to  return 
to  Japan  immigrants  who,  on  account  of  permanent  dis- 
ability, were  unable  to  earn  their  own  living,  even 
against  the  will  of  the  labourer,  and  also  all  women 
found  plying  immoral  traffic. 

The  annexation  of  Hawaii  by  the  United  States  nat- 
urally terminated  all  the  labour  conventions  entered  into 
by  the  defunct  Kingdom,  for  the  Republican  Govern- 
ment could  not  permit  the  importation  of  contract  labour. 
The  contract  labour  system  under  the  old  regime,  with 
the  resultant  convention  with  the  Japanese  Government, 
was  both  beneficial  and  harmful.  It  was  beneficial  in 
that  it  afforded  the  Japanese  Government  a  responsible 
party  to  deal  with  for  the  security  of  the  well-being  of 
its  emigrant  subjects,  for  there  was  no  doubt  that  the 
plantation  hands  needed  protection  against  abuse.  The 
system  was,  however,  harmful  in  so  far  as  it  prevented 
the  growth  of  the  true  idea  of  emigration  among  the 
Japanese.  Contract  labourers  are  not  immigrants.  Un- 
der the  old  system  the  Japanese  labourers  came  to  Hawaii 
to  remain  there  only  for  three  to  five  years  and  not  to  be- 
come permanent  residents  of  the  country.  The  Mikado's 
Government,  for  fear  that  its  emigrant  subjects,  if  per- 
mitted to  remain  abroad  indefinitely,  might  become  desti- 
tute or  become  public  charges  on  account  of  sickness  or 
accident,  required  them  to  return  home  at  the  end  of  their 
contract  terms.    This  precaution  was  necessary  in  dealing 


«'THEY   HAVE  USURPED   HAWAII"  203 

with  the  labour  scheme  broached  by  the  Hawaiian 
planters  and  the  Hawaiian  Government,  but  the  very 
precaution  acted  to  nurture  in  the  bosoms  of  the  emi- 
grants the  mistaken  idea  that  the  severance  of  alle- 
giance to  their  native  country,  or  even  their  permanent 
residence  abroad,  was  an  act  of  disloyalty. 

This  narrow  view  the  islanders  of  Nippon  have  not 
yet  completely  discarded,  notwithstanding  their  moral 
leaders  and  men  of  affairs  earnestly  striving  to  abolish 
it.  The  Japanese,  having  learned  their  first  lessons  in 
emigration  on  the  plantations  in  Hawaii,  brought  to  the 
mainland  of  America  the  idea  which  they  had  got  from 
those  lessons.  When  contract  labour  was  abolished  as 
the  result  of  the  amalgamation  of  Hawaii  with  the  United 
States,  many  Japanese  migrated  from  Hawaii  to  the 
mainland,  but  the  intention  of  such  Japanese  was  to 
remain  in  the  States  only  long  enough  to  amass  a  com- 
petency. With  their  experience  in  foreign  affairs  wid- 
ened and  their  knowledge  of  conditions  abroad  becoming 
clearer,  the  Japanese  have  become  proportionately  more 
cosmopolitan,  bringing  about  a  signal  change  in  their 
conception  of  emigration.  The  Japanese  Government 
itself  no  longer  assumes  the  paternalistic  attitude  which 
it  used  to  assume  towards  its  subjects  in  Hawaii,  as  the 
abolition  of  contract  labour,  ensuring  fairer  treatment  of 
plantation  labourers,  made  such  an  attitude  unnecessary. 
Indeed  the  animating  spirit  among  the  leading  men  of 
Japan  is  that  of  cosmopolitanism,  and  it  seems  fair  to 
predict  that  before  long  this  new  spirit  will  completely 
dissipate  the  prejudice  against  expatriation. 

As  an  indication  of  this  new  tendency  recent  utter- 
ances of  Hon.  Yeitaki,  the  Japanese  Consul-General  at 
Honolulu,  are  significant.  At  a  banquet  tendered  in 
his  honour  by  the  Japanese  residents  in  Honolulu  in 


204  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

1912,  the  Consul-General  urged  that  the  Japanese  in 
Hawaii  should  no  longer  send  money  to  Japan,  but  should 
invest  it  in  property  or  in  some  commercial  or  industrial 
enterprises,  with  a  view  to  becoming  permanent  resi- 
dents of  the  Territory.  Such  an  utterance  is  all  the 
more  significant  when  we  recall  the  earlier  attitude  of 
the  Japanese  authorities  towards  emigrants. 

The  liberation  of  the  Japanese  plantation  hands,  which 
was  the  logical  outcome  of  the  abolition  of  the  contract 
labour  system,  inevitably  resulted  in  their  exodus  for 
the  mainland,  where  wages  were  higher  and  conditions  of 
labour  much  more  agreeable.  The  planters,  alarmed  by 
this  fresh  development  of  the  labour  situation,  resorted 
to  every  means,  except  the  increase  of  the  compensation 
of  labour,  to  stop  the  tide  of  emigration.  True,  they 
raised  in  1906  the  scale  of  wages,  but  even  the  new  scale 
was  far  lower  than  what  the  Japanese  labourers  were 
entitled  to.  The  planters  persuaded  the  Territorial  Gov- 
ernment to  enact  a  law  imposing  an  annual  fee  of  five 
hundred  dollars  upon  each  emigration  agent  recruiting 
labourers  in  Hawaii  for  the  mainland  employers.  In 
addition  they  turned  for  assistance  to  the  Japanese  Con- 
sul-General of  the  time  as  well  as  certain  classes  of 
Japanese  residents  in  Honolulu,  who  were  on  friendly 
terms  with  the  planters.  An  organization  called  the 
Central  Japanese  League  was  the  outcome  of  this  effort. 
How  faithfully  this  association  echoed  the  will  of  the 
planters  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  resolution 
adopted  at  one  of  its  meetings  held  in  1904 :  "  That  the 
League  will  request  the  Imperial  Japanese  Consul- 
General  to  issue  advice  to  the  Japanese  labourers,  setting 
forth  in  plain  language  the  many  advantages  of  their 
remaining  in  the  islands;  that  it  will  take  all  necessary 
measures  to  induce  the  Japanese  boarding-house  keepers 


"THEY   HAVE  USURPED  HAWAII"  205 

and  others  to  refrain  from  giving  assistance  to  those  in- 
tending to  sail  for  the  American  coast ;  that  the  officials 
of  the  local  branches  of  the  League  be  instructed  to  use 
their  influence  in  order  to  prevent  the  emigration  of  the 
labourers;  and  that  it  make  some  arrangement  with  the 
steamship  companies  whereby  to  check  the  exodus  of 
Japanese  labourers." 

The  assistance  of  the  Japanese  Consul-General  was 
also  brought  directly  into  play  to  stem  the  migration  of 
his  fellow-countrymen  to  the  Coast.  In  May  and  June, 
1904,  a  notice  from  the  Consul-General,  urging  Japa- 
nese not  to  leave  Hawaii  for  the  mainland,  was  found 
conspicuously  posted  throughout  the  islands,  in  both 
English  and  Japanese.  And  yet  the  exodus  of  Japanese 
labourers  did  not  diminish  to  any  appreciable  extent. 

The  embarrassment  caused  by  the  emigration  of  Japa- 
nese labourers  for  continental  United  States  was  coupled 
with  the  difficulty  resulting  from  what  the  planters  re- 
proachfully called  the  "  aggressiveness  "  of  these  labour- 
ers. As  a  matter  of  fact  their  aggressiveness  was  noth- 
ing but  a  legitimate  and  just  desire  to  be  treated  as  any 
human  being  should  be  treated.  They  wanted  decent 
living  quarters  as  well  as  a  scale  of  wages  commensurate 
to  the  services  they  were  rendering.  They  had  been 
awakening  to  the  sense  of  human  rights,  but  had  been 
unable  to  give  expression  to  that  sense  with  effectiveness, 
as  long  as  they  were  bound  hand  and  foot  by  the  old 
system  of  contract  labour.  In  the  annexation  of 
Hawaii  by  the  greatest  democratic  nation  in  the  world 
those  semi-slave  labourers  from  the  Orient  saw  the  light 
of  salvation.  With  contract  labour  forbidden,  they  be- 
gan to  breathe  more  freely.  Their  *'  aggressiveness  "  was 
the  immediate  result.  Upon  the  heels  of  the  abolition 
of  penal  contracts  many   strikes  were   reported.     This 


206  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

alarmed  the  planters  almost  as  greatly  as  the  emigration 
of  the  Japanese  to  the  mainland.  The  sugar  interests 
recognized  that  this  new  attitude  of  the  Orientals  must 
be  tempered  by  some  means,  but  as  in  all  previous  cases 
they  were  reluctant  to  lay  the  axe  at  the  root  of  the 
trouble.  Instead  of  meeting  the  demands  of  the  labour- 
ers in  a  spirit  of  fairness  they  tried  to  alleviate  their 
grievances  by  means  altogether  unworthy  of  their  great 
power  and  high  prestige. 

The  Central  Japanese  League  we  have  just  mentioned 
had  as  its  object  not  only  the  prevention  of  Japanese 
exodus  from  Hawaii  but  also  the  conciliation  of  labour 
disputes.  The  League,  undoubtedly  at  the  instance  of 
the  planters,  issued  in  June,  1904,  a  circular  urging  the 
plantation  hands  not  to  resort  to  strikes  as  the  means 
of  pressing  their  demands.  The  subservient  nature  of 
the  letter  is  apparent  in  the  following  passages  taken  from 
that  document: 

"  We  view  with  profound  regret  the  late  unhappy 
occurrences  akin  in  nature  and  appearance  to  strikes 
among  the  members  of  the  Central  Japanese  League  on 
some  of  the  plantations.  Such  occurrences  cannot  fail 
to  injure  the  reputation  of  the  organization  in  the  eyes 
of  the  public,  particularly  employers  of  Japanese  la- 
bourers, with  whom  we  earnestly  wish  to  maintain  just 
and  cordial  relations. 

"  Strikes  and  all  other  violent  acts,  especially  for  trivial 
causes,  are,  in  their  nature,  like  the  doings  of  unruly 
children  or  like  the  acts  of  barbarians,  rather  than  of 
civilized  men.     We  are  absolutely  opposed  to  them." 

The  efforts  of  the  League  to  lessen  the  friction  be- 
tween the  planters  and  the  Japanese  labourers  proved 
no  more  successful  than  their  voluntary  action  for  the 
checking  of  Japanese   exodus  for  the  mainland.     The 


"THEY   HAVE   USURPED   HAWAH"  207 

Japanese  plantation  labourers  obviously  preferred  to  be 
called  "  unruly  children "  or  "  barbarians  "  to  having 
their  legitimate  claims  turned  down  at  the  hands  of  an 
aristocracy,  of  which  the  League,  they  had  reason  to 
believe,  was  but  a  handy  tool.  The  Japanese  Consul- 
General,  who  was  the  President  of  the  League,  was  made 
the  object  of  scathing  criticism  by  leaders  of  the  planta- 
tion labourers.  In  one  instance  an  attache  of  the  Japa- 
nese consulate,  while  addressing  a  meeting  of  strikers 
and  urging  them  to  return  to  work,  had  a  narrow  escape 
from  rough  handling  by  the  strikers.  The  Japanese  had 
scented  something  of  freedom  at  this  outpost  of  a 
great  democracy  and  began  to  show  in  their  rough  way 
a  desire  to  be  free  and  independent. 

To  the  lay  mind  the  labour  policy  of  the  planters  was 
from  the  beginning  a  mistaken  one.  In  the  earlier  days 
they  freely  subsidized  emigration  companies  in  Japan 
which  acted  as  recruiting  agents  for  the  planters.  These 
subsidies  were  virtually  paid  out  of  the  pockets  of  the 
Japanese  labourers,  for  the  planters  naturally  tried  to 
meet  this  special  expenditure  by  cutting  the  wages  of 
their  employes.  Had  the  planters  instead  of  assisting 
the  emigration  companies,  whose  dealings  with  the  pro- 
spective emigrants  were  far  from  honourable,  paid  the  in- 
dividual labourers  what  their  work  was  really  worth,  the 
Japanese  labourers  would  have  come  to  Hawaii  in  larger 
numbers.  When  the  Japanese  in  Hawaii  began  to  leave 
for  the  mainland,  the  planters  again  failed  to  face  the 
problem"  squarely,  wasting  money  for  means  obviously 
futile  to  attain  the  end  they  had  in  view.  Had  they 
awakened  in  season  to  the  futility  of  such  a  policy  the 
strike  of  the  Japanese  plantation  hands  of  1909,  which 
cost  the  planters  a  sum  of  $2,000,000,  would  have  been 
avoided.    Instead  of  doing  what  should  have  been  done, 


208  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

the  planting  interests  attempted  to  supply  deficiencies 
caused  by  the  departure  of  Japanese  by  importing  all 
sorts  of  ignorant  and  inferior  labourers  at  enormous  cost. 
And  when  they  saw  that  even  such  ignorant  inferior 
labourers  would  not  stay,  they  induced  the  Territorial 
legislature  to  pass  a  law  containing  the  following  pro- 
vision :  "  Any  person  who,  by  promise  of  employment 
outside  the  Territory  of  Hawaii,  shall  induce,  entice,  or 
persuade,  or  attempt  to  induce,  entice  or  persuade,  or 
aid  or  abet  in  inducing,  enticing,  or  persuading,  any 
servant  or  labourer  who  shall  have  contracted,  either 
orally  or  in  writing,  to  serve  his  employer  for  a  specific 
length  of  time,  to  leave  the  service  of  said  employer 
during  such  time,  without  the  consent  of  said  employer, 
shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanour  and  upon  conviction 
thereof  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not  more  than  five 
hundred  dollars  or  by  imprisonment  for  not  more  than 
six  months  or  by  both  such  fine  and  imprisonment." 

We  have  referred  to  the  Japanese  strike  of  1909.  That 
labour  conflict  is  so  illustrative  of  the  characteristic 
methods  of  the  planters  in  dealing  with  their  employes 
that  it  deserves  further  elucidation. 

The  strike  was  the  most  serious  labour  trouble  that 
ever  occurred  in  Hawaii.  Prior  to  that  event  the  Japa- 
nese in  Hawaii  made  no  organized  efforts  to  press  their 
demand  for  better  treatment.  Here  and  there  Japanese 
plantation  hands  had  gone  on  strike  in  a  desultory  man- 
ner and  utterly  without  effect.  Perhaps  this  lack  of  de- 
termination and  organized  efforts  was  largely  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  Japanese  still  enjoyed  the  liberty  to  leave 
the  plantations  to  seek  better  employment  on  the  main- 
land. Hard  as  their  lot  in  Hawaii  was  they  could  still 
console  themselves  in  the  thought  that  the  way  was  yet 
left  open  for  them  to  escape  the  predicament.    But  when 


"THEY   HAVE  USURPED   HAWAH  "  209 

that  way  was  completely  barricaded  in  1907  they  became 
desperate.  The  historic  school  incident  in  San  Francisco 
and  the  agitation  of  the  Japanese-Korean  Exclusion 
League  had  come  to  an  unforeseen  issue,  the  Adminis- 
tration at  Washington  forbidding  the  Japanese  in  Hawaii 
to  migrate  to  continental  United  States.  This  regula- 
tion, depriving  the  Japanese  of  the  right  of  travel  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Republic,  resulted  in  the  bottling 
up  of  the  Japanese  plantation  hands  in  the  narrow  pre- 
cincts of  the  Mid-Pacific  islands,  while  labourers  of 
other  nationalities  were  never  subject  to  such  restriction 
of  freedom.  This  more  than  anything  else  was  the  direct 
incentive  for  the  strike  of  1909.  How  far  the  planting 
interests  were  responsible  for  the  realization  of  this  re- 
striction it  is  difficult  to  say,  but  it  was  common  knowl- 
edge at  the  time  that  they  assisted  in  the  movement  for 
the  prohibition  of  Japanese  emigration  from  Hawaii  for 
the  mainland. 

The  strike  began  on  some  of  the  larger  plantations  on 
Oahu  Island  in  May,  1909,  and  continued  through  a 
good  part  of  the  following  summer.  Though  there  was 
no  cessation  of  employment  outside  of  that  island,  the 
issue  was  understood  to  involve  all  plantations  in  the 
Territory.  Consequently  the  direct  cost  of  the  strike  to 
the  employers,  well  estimated  at  $2,000,000,  was  appor- 
tioned among  all  the  plantations,  while  the  striking 
labourers  were  supported  by  funds  collected  from  their 
fellow  countrymen  still  at  work  in  the  cane  fields  of  other 
islands  and  those  residing  in  the  city  of  Honolulu. 

The  chief  demand  of  the  strikers  was  that  they  be 
paid  the  same  wages  as  the  Portuguese  and  Porto 
Ricans  were  paid  for  exactly  the  same  work.  At  that 
time  unskilled  Caucasian  labourers  on  the  plantations 
were  paid  $22.50  per  month  of  twenty-six  working  days. 


210  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

while  the  Japanese  of  the  same  class  and  doing  the  same 
amount  of  work  as  the  Caucasians  were  paid  only  $i8. 
As  no  labourer,  not  even  the  Japanese,  can  work  in  a 
tropical  climate  twenty-six  days  in  the  month,  no  un- 
skilled Japanese  labourer  could  earn  more  than  $13  or 
$15  per  month.  Moreover,  the  Caucasians  were  given 
much  more  comfortable  living  quarters  than  were  the 
Japanese.  Those  Portuguese  who  had  families  were 
given  respectable  cottages,  each  having  attached  to  it  a 
lot  of  an  acre  or  so,  while  the  Japanese  had  never  been 
accorded  such  liberal  treatment. 

During  the  strike  many  circulars  and  pamphlets  were 
issued  by  its  leaders  telling  heart-rending  stories  of  the 
miserable  lot  of  plantation  hands.  Some  of  these  stories 
perhaps  should  not  be  taken  at  their  face  value,  but 
they  certainly  indicate  the  nature  of  the  grievances 
which  forced  them  to  strike.  One  of  such  stories  runs 
thus: 

"  A  Japanese,  forty-eight  years  of  age,  has  been  work- 
ing on  the  plantations  for  fifteen  years.  He  has  with 
him  his  wife  and  four  children.  The  price  of  rice  alone 
consumed  by  this  family  foots  up  to  $10  a  month.  His 
wife  has  her  hands  full  in  caring  for  the  children  and  the 
house.  The  man  has  to  support  his  aged  mother  who 
remains  in  Japan." 

And  this  man  was  earning  no  more  than  $15  a  month. 
How  could  he  make  ends  meet  when  the  rice  alone 
cost  $10  a  month?  Without  doubt  the  lot  of  this  poor 
man  was  the  lot  of  many  another. 

Many  pamphlets  relate  the  unsatisfactory  condition  of 
camps  assigned  to  the  Japanese.  "  In  Honomu,  Hawaii 
Island,"  says  one  of  these  pamphlets,  "  the  labourers  are 
complaining  of  the  uncleanliness  of  the  camps  and  of 
the  planter's  indifference  to  sanitary  conditions.     Some 


"THEY  HAVE  USURPED  HAWAH"  211 

of  the  labourers  in  this  locality  built  their  own  houses, 
as  the  camps  were  unfit  for  them  to  live  in.  The  camps 
need  immediate  improvement;  they  are  unfit  for  human 
habitation,  both  from  the  moral  and  sanitary  point  of 
view." 

The  chief  weakness  of  the  strike,  it  is  said,  lay  in  the 
fact  that  it  was  conducted  on  a  national  line  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Japanese  alone.  But  viewing  the  situation 
impartially,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  strikers  could 
avoid  the  course,  when  their  demand  was  that  they  be 
treated  as  were  the  labourers  of  other  nationalities,  in 
respect  of  wages  and  living  quarters.  Apart  from  the 
question  of  whether  or  not  the  Caucasian  labourers  were 
themselves  treated  squarely,  the  strikers  were  willing  to 
work  if  they  were  only  paid  as  much  daily  wages  as  the 
Caucasian  plantation  hands  were  paid  for  work  of 
the  same  amount  and  nature.  The  manifesto  of  the 
strikers  made  this  point  fairly  clear.  I  quote  the  follow- 
ing passage  with  all  its  picturesque  expressions: 

"  The  demand  for  higher  wages  is  based  on  the  effi- 
ciency of  our  labouring  class.  Fair,  impartial,  and  com- 
petent witnesses  all  agree  in  that  Japanese  plantation 
labourers  accomplish  work  of  the  same  amount  and 
quality  as  is  done  by  other  labourers  in  a  given  time. 
We  believe  that  the  planters  will  also  agree  in  this. 
Wages  are  a  reward  for  services  rendered,  and  a  just 
wage  is  that  which  compensates  labour  to  the  full  value 
of  the  service  rendered  by  him.  It  is  an  unjust  wage  to 
pay  the  labourer  less  than  the  real  value  of  the  work 
performed  by  him.  Here  we  do  not  propose  to  discuss 
whether  the  planters  could  afford  to  pay  more  than 
$22.50  a  month  to  ordinary  unskilled  labour  on  the 
plantations,  though  we  are  of  the  opinion  that  they  can 
pay  far  more  than  that  sum.     Let  us  take  that  sum  as 


212  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

a  just  reward  for  the  labourer  from  Porto  Rico  and 
Portugal.  If  a  labourer  comes  from  Japan  and  he  per- 
forms the  same  quantity  of  work  of  the  same  quality 
within  the  same  period  of  time  as  those  who  hail  from 
the  opposite  side  of  the  world,  what  good  reason  is 
there  to  discriminate  one  against  the  other?  It  is  not 
the  colour  of  his  skin  or  hair,  or  the  language  he 
speaks,  or  manners  and  customs  that  grow  cane  in  the 
field." 

In  condemning  the  strike  the  planters  asserted  that 
Japanese  labourers  themselves  were  by  no  means  so  dis- 
satisfied as  to  wage  war  against  their  employes,  and  that 
the  strike  was  started  at  the  instigation  of  a  few  educated 
Japanese  who  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  planta- 
tion work.  We  agree  that  the  discontent  among  the 
labourers  was  awakened  by  outsiders,  but  that  does  not 
in  the  least  affect  the  justice  of  the  cause  for  which  the 
leaders  of  the  strike  laboured.  In  no  country  have  the 
workingmen  been  aroused  to  the  sense  of  their  inherent 
rights  and  been  stirred  to  action  without  the  guidance 
and  leadership  of  those  men  whose  visions  reached  be- 
yond the  narrow  horizon  of  the  present.  Whether  the 
engineers  of  the  Japanese  strike  had  their  own  axes  to 
grind  we  cannot  say,  but  that  there  existed  circumstances 
which  justified  a  strike  no  one  can  gainsay. 

The  strike  was  on  the  whole  a  failure.  Famishing 
labourers,  with  their  wives  and  children  stricken  with 
hunger,  are  no  match  for  modern  capitalists  organized 
and  disciplined  to  the  highest  state  of  efficiency.  More- 
over, the  planters  had  the  authorities  on  their  side  and 
acted  much  as  they  pleased  in  handling  the  strikers. 
Although  the  strikers  were  so  law-abiding  and  quiet  that 
the  citizens  of  Honolulu  called  the  strike  the  "gentle- 
men's strike,"  their  leaders  were  all  arrested  and  im- 


"THEY   HAVE  USURPED  HAWAH"  213 

prisoned.  Mr.  Soga,  editor  of  the  Nipopu  Jiji,  the  Japa- 
nese newspaper  in  Honolulu,  which  championed  the  cause 
of  the  strikers,  was  indicted  on  more  than  twenty  charges 
from  misdemeanour  to  conspiracy.  Without  search 
warrants  or  any  legal  right  whatsoever,  the  planters 
caused  the  police  authorities  to  break  into  the  offices  of 
the  journal  and  of  other  strike  leaders,  and  even  forced 
open  the  safes  in  search  of  incriminating  evidence.  The 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Territory,  even  while  confirming  the 
sentence  on  Mr.  Negoro,  one  of  the  strike  leaders,  to 
imprisonment,  plainly  admitted  that  such  illegal  acts 
were  perpetrated  with  impunity.  He  said :  "  There  were 
papers  taken  from  the  office  of  the  defendant,  Negoro, 
without  process  of  law  and  forcibly,  including  corre- 
spondence. Defendant's  claim  that  the  evidence  was  in- 
admissible because  illegally  obtained  was  not  sustained." 

Whatever  the  planters  may  have  to  say  in  justification 
of  their  side  of  the  case,  such  misuse  of  administrative 
and  judiciary  authority  was  deplorable  and  left  an  inef- 
faceable stain  on  the  pages  of  Hawaiian  history.  The 
Territory,  as  the  outpost  of  American  civilization,  should 
have  administered  its  laws  and  meted  out  justice  in  a 
manner  that  would  win  the  respect  of  the  many  diverse 
races  residing  within  its  jurisdiction  not  only  for  the 
courts  and  laws  but  for  the  American  people  and  their 
civilization.  How  can  we  expect  the  "  inferior "  races 
from  the  Orient  to  cherish  loyalty  and  confidence  for  our 
government  and  institutions  when  the  powers  of  our 
government  are  employed  in  an  arbitrary  and  despotic 
manner  in  order  to  subserve  the  interests  of  a  few  cap- 
tains of  industry? 

The  strike,  however,  was  not  entirely  without  good 
results.  The  planters  have  been  improving  the  living 
quarters  of  the  plantation  labourers  and  have  also  raised 


214  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

the  scale  of  wages,  though  they  take  special  pains  to 
make  it  appear  that  such  measures  have  been  adopted 
quite  independently  of  the  strike  and  entirely  of  their 
own  accord.  At  present  the  wages  of  the  Japanese 
plantation  hands  vary  from  $20  to  $22.  In  addition 
they  receive  a  certain  amount  of  bonus,  provided  they 
work  twenty  days  per  month  for  twelve  successive 
months.  Including  the  bonus  the  monthly  earnings  of 
the  plantation  labourers  should  range  from  $22  to  $24. 
Before  this  new  schedule  of  wages  went  into  effect  in 
1912,  Dr.  Clark,  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labour, 
speaking  of  the  wages  of  plantation  labourers  in  Hawaii, 
had  this  to  say:  "The  lowest  rate  is  $18  a  month. 
Though  this  is  nearly  50  per  cent,  more  than  was  paid 
in  the  days  of  contract  labour,  it  is,  at  present  prices, 
little  more  than  a  subsistence  wage  for  an  Oriental  with 
a  family.  .  .  .  Tropical  labourers,  even  the  Orientals, 
having  no  winter  rest  season,  do  not  work  every  day; 
and  the  average  actual  earnings  of  these  employes  prob- 
ably do  not  much  exceed,  if  they  exceed  at  all,  $15 
monthly." 

What  would  be  the  average  actual  earnings  of  the  Japa- 
nese hands  under  the  new  schedule  it  is  difficult  to  say, 
but,  judging  from  what  is  on  paper  at  any  rate,  they 
should  be  as  much  as  I  have  above  stated. 

The  strike  showed  one  thing  with  clearness,  nclmely, 
that  the  Orientals  could  no  longer  be  relied  upon  to  work 
for  starvation  wages.  In  a  vague  unconscious  way  the 
Oriental  "  man  with  the  hoe  "  has  caught  the  spirit  of 
freedom  upon  which  the  great  Republic  is  founded.  He 
has  begun  to  realize  that  he  is  no  longer 

"A  thing  that  grieves  not  and  that  never  hopes, 
Stolid  and  stunned,  a  brother  to  the  ox.? 


"THEY  HAVE  USURPED  HAW  AH"  215 

Here,  in  the  islands  of  Hawaii,  the  East  has  met  the 
West,  and  the  aggressive,  restless,  nervous  Occident  is 
gradually  infusing  a  new  spirit  into  the  naturally  passive 
and  self-abnegating  minds  of  the  Oriental  people.  Liberty 
and  democracy,  in  whatever  form  they  may  express  them- 
selves, must  ultimately  conquer  the  world. 


XIII 
THE  JAPANESE  IN  HAWAII 

SAID  an  evangelist  in  Hawaii :  "  Two  years  ago,  when 
I  came,  there  came  to  this  camp  also  a  young  man 
recently  arrived  from  Japan.  He  opened  his  eyes 
in  astonishment,  saying,  *  I  never  dreamed  that  Japanese 
could  come  to  this ! '  And  yet  that  very  young  man  is 
to-day  wallowing  in  the  mire  as  hopelessly  as  any  of 
them,  and  that  will  be  the  history  of  every  young  man 
that  comes,  unless  we  can  get  a  hold  of  him  before  he  gets 
dragged  down." 

The  evangelist  was  describing  the  gruesome  condition 
of  some  of  the  plantation  camps  occupied  by  Japanese 
hands.  It  is  puzzling,  he  added,  that  the  people  noted, 
while  in  their  native  country,  for  their  orderly  habits  and 
artistic  tastes  could  become  so  utterly  indifferent  to  their 
surroundings,  once  they  are  brought  on  the  plantations. 

I  can,  however,  well  imagine  why  some  of  the  Japa- 
nese labourers  show  such  deplorable  relapse  after  their 
arrival  in  the  islands.  Poor  as  they  were,  most  of  them 
lived  in  roomy,  comfortable  houses.  The  Japanese  farm- 
houses with  quaint  thatch  roofs  are  to  the  Western  eye 
more  picturesque  than  inviting,  yet  most  of  them  con- 
tain three  or  four  rooms  of  good  size.  They  have  noth- 
ing that  indicates  refined  taste,  but  they  are  comfortable 
enough,  and  with  a  little  care  can  be  kept  quite  respect- 
able. The  floors  are  fitted  with  thick  well-made  mat- 
tresses covered   with  mattings,   the   interior  walls   are 

2l6 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   HAWAII  217 

plastered  and  papered,  and  the  rooms  are  partitioned 
with  fusuma,  a  peculiar  sort  of  doors  of  wooden  frames 
covered  with  thick  layers  of  paper,  the  surface  of  which 
is  often  embellished  with  drawings  or  ideographs. 

Having  been  accustomed  to  live  in  such  houses,  the 
Japanese  labourers,  when  placed  in  dismal  camps  on  the 
plantations,  naturally  feel  a  certain  sense  of  disappoint- 
ment which  easily  develops  into  depression  and  indif- 
ference. Most  of  us  know  how  discouraged  we  feel  when 
suddenly  removed  from  respectable  living-quarters  and 
put  into  a  pretence  of  a  house  where  putting  things  in 
order  is  a  hopeless  task.  Disorderly  habit  soon  takes 
hold  of  us,  making  us  callous  to  untidiness  and  in- 
decency. 

In  the  earlier  days  the  plantation  camps  were  merely 
bunk-houses  divided  into  narrow  cells,  each  containing 
two  sleeping  places.  In  those  days  even  married  labour- 
ers were  made  to  live  in  such  cells,  to  the  detriment  of 
both  morals  and  sanitation.  The  survivors  of  such  dis- 
mal bunk-houses  are  still  to  be  seen  occupied  by  labour- 
ers on  some  of  the  plantations.  The  unhappy  habit 
acquired  by  Japanese  labourers  in  the  days  of  contract 
labour  could  not  easily  be  reformed. 

And  yet  the  Japanese  plantation  hands  cannot  be  said 
to  have  been  slow  in  availing  themselves  of  the  oppor- 
tunity offered  by  the  planters  of  improving  their  sur- 
roundings. That  they  are  naturally  inclined  to  be  neat 
and  even  fastidious  in  the  upkeep  of  their  premises  is 
shown  in  the  following  passage  from  one  of  Mr.  Ray 
Stannard  Baker's  illuminating  articles  on  Hawaii : 

*'  Often  the  manager  permits  the  working  people  to 
use  a  bit  of  land  around  their  houses,  and  it  is  surprising 
to  see,  as  at  Kohuku  and  Ewa,  with  what  skill  and 
beauty  the  Japanese  have  developed  their  little  yards. 


2i8  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

Some  of  the  miniature  gardens  with  little  rocky  pools  and 
fish  and  many  flowers  around  about,  suggest  a  corner  of 
old  Japan.  The  only  other  people  who  have  manifested 
any  similar  pride  in  their  surroundings  are  the  Portu- 
guese, but  their  improvements  run  to  the  practical  rather 
than  the  artistic." 

The  Ko^huku  and  Ewa  plantations  are  on  Oahu  Island. 
At  Waialua,  also  on  the  same  island,  the  manager  told 
me  that  the  Japanese  paid  far  greater  attention  to  their 
houses  and  gardens  than  other  people.  That  was  also 
the  view  expressed  to  me  by  the  nianagers  of  plantations 
on  Hawaii  Island.  Since  the  Japanese  strike  of  1909 
the  planters  have  been  building  more  delectable  shelters 
for  the  Japanese  hands.  And  along  with  this  the  Ha- 
waiian Board  have  been  engaged  in  a  vigorous  campaign 
for  the  betterment  of  the  camps,  distributing  trees  among 
the  Japanese  to  be  planted  around  their  cottages,  and 
offering  prizes  for  the  best  grown  trees.  In  1909,  when 
the  Board  started  a  campaign  for  planting  trees,  2,000 
trees  were  distributed.  The  Japanese  took  immediate 
interest  in  the  movement  and  vied  with  one  another  to 
attain  the  best  results  in  tree  culture.  Without  any  at- 
tempt on  the  part  of  the  Hawaiian  Board  to  continue 
the  movement  for  a  second  year,  the  Japanese  labourers 
have  ordered  on  their  own  initiative  1,700  trees.  Along 
with  the  trees  came  added  interest  in  flowers  and  fences 
and  hedges.  In  some  camps  the  improvement  has 
amounted  to  a  transformation. 

The  Japanese  in  Hawaii,  having  mostly  come  from 
picturesque  villages  surrounded  by  rice  fields,  know  little 
of  communal  life  in  America.  When  such  people  are 
allowed  to  settle  together  in  their  own  way  the  resultant 
villages,  towns,  or  streets  are  not  in  conformity  to  the 
plans  and  ideas  on  which  American  villages  and  towns 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   HAWAII  219 

are  established.  Of  this  the  Japanese  quarters  of  the 
city  of  Hilo,  Hawaii  Island,  furnish  a  most  conspicu- 
ous illustration.  The  buildings  in  those  quarters  are  as 
exotic  as  they  are  unsightly.  True,  this  peculiarity  is 
not  apparent  in  the  stores  and  shops  facing  the  business 
streets,  but  when  you  explore  the  mazes  back  of  the  streets 
you  begin  to  wonder  if  you  are  in  an  American  city. 
Here  in  the  small  space  of  ground  enclosed  by  the  block 
buildings  the  Japanese  put  up  all  manner  of  ramshackle 
buildings,  utilized  as  restaurants,  bath  houses,  barber 
shops,  and  small  stores.  Their  architectural  effects, 
both  interior  and  exterior,  are  more  Japanese  than 
American.  Every  inch  of  ground  that  could  be  utilized 
has  been  utilized  for  building  purposes,  leaving  but  nar- 
row passages  which  thread  through  the  medley  of 
whimsical  structures.  The  whole  atmosphere  suggests 
a  corner  of  a  small  town  in  the  Sunrise  Empire. 

As  I  walked  through  these  so-called  "  Japanese  alleys  " 
I  wondered  why  the  municipal  authorities  should  ever 
have  permitted  Japanese,  or  more  probably  American 
landowners,  to  put  up  such  exotic  houses  in  a  manner 
totally  contrary  to  the  usual  methods  of  city-building  in 
America.  I  could  not  see  why  there  should  not  be 
building  and  sanitary  laws  which  would  prevent  the  ap- 
pearance of  such  quarters.  Upon  inquiry  I  found  out 
that  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  the  city  was  composed 
mostly,  almost  exclusively,  of  native  Hawaiians,  whose 
sluggishness  and  inaction  are  proverbial.  As  long  as 
local  governments  are  left  in  the  hands  of  Hawaiians, 
it  is  next  to  impossible  to  infuse  civic  pride  into  the 
minds  of  the  aliens  living  under  such  governments.  If 
one  drives  through  the  city  of  Hilo  one  realizes  that  it 
is  no  wonder  that  the  Japanese  built  such  strange  houses. 
Rather  does  he  wonder  how  they  avoided  establishing 


220  ASIA   AT   THE   DOOR  4 

far  more  outlandish  quarters.  For  the  whole  city  seems 
to  have  been  built  without  preconceived  plan,  letting  the 
streets  run  where  they  may,  and  allowing  the  houses  to 
rear  their  roofs  where  their  whimsical  builders  would 
have  them.  Most  streets,  except  those  of  the  business 
section,  have  no  sidewalks,  and  even  where  walks  are 
provided  they  abruptly  degenerate  into  impassable  mud- 
holes  and  ruts.  Save  for  the  pretentious  residences 
occupied  by  wealthy  Americans  interested  in  the  sugar 
industry  or  banking  business,  the  whole  city  suggests 
the  Orient  rather  than  the  Occident.  Small  wonder  that 
the  Japanese  seem  to  feel  perfectly  at  home  in  Hilo. 

What  the  Japanese  in  Hawaii  need  is  the  discreet 
guidance  and  wise  counsel  of  public-spirited  American 
statesmen,  publicists,  and  moral  leaders.  Most  of  all, 
they  need  enlightened  legislators  and  efficient  officials. 
Once  the  way  is  shown  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  will 
strive  to  follow  it.  The  Japanese  came  to  Hawaii  not 
on  their  own  initiative  but  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of 
the  interests  which  made  the  life  of  the  archipelago  what 
it  is.  It  is,  therefore,  incumbent  upon  Hawaii  to  guide 
them  and  assist  them  towards  higher  civilization  and 
greater  well-being.  Instead  of  giving  them  this  much- 
needed  guidance,  the  administrators  of  Hawaii  are  per- 
mitting the  Japanese  in  some  places  to  build  houses  and 
lay  thoroughfares  in  a  manner  contrary  to  American 
ideas.  Worse  still,  they  are  even  leaning  upon  the  Japa- 
nese, as  in  the  case  of  public  school  buildings,  which  I 
have  discussed  in  the  preceding  chapter.  If  Hawaii 
is  ever  to  be  Orientalized  in  the  unfortunate  sense  of 
the  word,  much  of  the  blame  must  be  shouldered  by  those 
Americans  who  are  at  the  helm  in  the  administration  of 
the  islands. 

With  all  the  keen  appreciation  of  what  Hawaii  has 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   HAWAII  221 

done  for  the  Japanese,  we  must  admit  that  in  some  re- 
spects American  tutorage  in  Hawaii  for  the  Japanese  has 
not  been  what  it  should  have  been.  The  Japanese  are 
accused  of  underselling  American  merchants  and  under- 
bidding American  contractors,  but  who  was  it  that  first 
taught  the  Japanese  to  undersell  their  labour?  Ever 
since  their  advent  in  the  islands  they  have  been  made  to 
work  for  less  wages  than  were  paid  Caucasian  labourers 
for  exactly  the  same  amount  and  the  same  kind  of  work. 
It  was  only  after  the  great  strike  of  1909  that  the  Japa- 
nese labourers  began  to  be  accorded  anything  like  fair 
treatment.  Thus  were  the  Japanese  initiated  in  the  art 
of  competition  and  of  undercutting  price.  Is  it  any  won- 
der that  they  essayed  to  apply  that  art  in  their  dealings 
with  Caucasian  merchants  and  mechanics? 

Yet  the  procession  of  skilled  Caucasian  labourers  back 
to  the  States  cannot  wholly  be  attributed  to  Japanese 
competition.  It  is  chiefly  the  result  of  the  depression 
which  Hawaii  has  felt  for  several  years  on  account  of 
the  reaction  from  the  '*  boom  "  that  marked  the  early 
period  following  annexation.  It  was  not  only  the  artisans 
but  also  merchants  who  suffered  from  the  effects  of  this 
depression.  Upon  the  heels  of  annexation  Americans 
and  American  money  poured  into  the  islands.  Many 
contracts  were  let  for  public  buildings,  while  private 
residences  and  commercial  establishments  were  building 
everywhere.  Carpenters  and  plumbers  came  to  the 
islands  in  large  numbers,  and  clothing  houses  and  other 
miscellaneous  stores  were  established  in  much  larger 
numbers  than  would  have  been  warranted  under  the 
normal  condition  of  the  Territory.*  For  a  few  years  the 
country  was  bustling  with  business  and  traffic,  and  in 
that  moment  of  excitement  people  forgot  that  they  were 
living  in  an  abnormal  period.    The  excitement  was  des- 


222  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

tined  to  pass.  The  necessary  buildings  were  soon  com- 
pleted, and  with  their  completion  many  skilled  labourers 
from  the  States  were  forced  to  remain  idle  or  go  back  to 
the  mainland.  A  general  depression  soon  followed,  and 
some  of  the  traders  found  it  difficult  to  hold  their  own. 
This  depression  no  doubt  added  to  the  acuteness  of 
Oriental  competition.  When  business  is  brisk  and  de- 
mand for  labour  is  great,  competition,  whatever  source 
it  may  come  from,  is  not  so  keenly  felt  nor  so  quickly 
observed  as  when  trade  is  falling  off  with  the  corre- 
sponding decrease  of  demand  for  labour. 

Whatever  the  immediate  cause  of  their  success,  there 
is  no  doubt  that  the  Japanese  are  gradually  forging 
ahead  in  various  directions.  In  the  building  trade  they 
are  fast  becoming  a  factor;  there  are  quite  a  few  Japa- 
nese plumbers  in  Honolulu;  they  have  almost  monopo- 
lized the  fishing  industry  which  was  formerly  exclusively 
carried  on  by  the  Hawaiians.  In  Honolulu  hack-drivers 
are  mostly  Japanese,  while  a  few  enterprising  Japanese 
have  begun  to  take  an  interest  in  the  taxicab  business.  In 
Honolulu  some  of  the  dry  goods,  clothing,  and  hard- 
ware stores  owned  by  Japanese  are  becoming  quite  re- 
spectable, and  in  Hilo  I  saw  a  Japanese  merchant  erect- 
ing a  building  which  when  completed  promised  to  be  one 
of  the  largest  business  buildings  in  the  city.  On  the 
plantations  the  Japanese  are  not  only  unskilled  labourers 
but  fill  highly  responsible  positions.  In  the  sugar  mills, 
too,  they  are  employed  in  important  places.  Their  in- 
dustry is  prodigious  and  their  versatility  wonderful. 
Perhaps  this  characteristic  of  the  Japanese  is  largely 
responsible  for  their  success. 

It  is  a  peculiar  phenomenon  that  while  the  Honolulu 
branch  of  the  Yokohama  Specie  Bank  of  Japan  seldom, 
if  ever,  advances  money  for  Japanese  enterprise,  agri- 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   HAWAII  223 

cultural  or  industrial,  American  banks,  especially  the 
Bishop  Bank  and  the  National  Bank  of  Hilo,  are  very 
liberal  in  dealing  with  the  Japanese.  Once  adequate 
security  is  furnished,  these  banks  are  always  willing  to 
advance  funds  to  Japanese  merchants.  It  seems  to  be 
the  general  opinion  among  bankers  that  as  debtors  the 
Japanese  are  as  honourable  as  any  other  people.  Both 
in  Honolulu  and  Hilo  I  was  struck  with  the  unusual 
politeness  shown  me  by  their  employes,  an  experience 
which  I  had  seldom  had  in  dealing  with  banks  on  the 
Pacific  Coast.  American  merchants  and  storekeepers 
in  Hawaii  are  also  far  more  courteous  to  the  Japanese 
than  those  in  the  States.  As  I  put  up  at  various  hotels, 
visited  various  restaurants,  purchased  of  different  stores, 
I  realized  more  forcibly  than  ever  that  Hawaii's  boast 
that  it  had  no  race  problem  was  not  meaningless. 

Much  has  been  said  about  the  low  standard  of  living 
prevailing  among  the  Japanese.  All  things  considered, 
however,  the  Japanese  in  Hawaii  expend,  I  am  certain, 
more  liberally  than  any  other  people  of  the  corresponding 
class.  The  Japanese  do  not  eat  rice  grown  in  Hawaii,  but 
import  this  staple  from  Japan.  This  is  not  for  any  patriotic 
or  sentimental  reason,  but  because  the  Japanese  know 
that  Hawaiian  rice  is  inferior  in  quality.  Including  the 
cost  of  transportation  and  customs  duties,  Japanese  rice 
is  far  more  costly  than  Hawaiian  rice,  yet  the  Japanese 
ungrudgingly  pay  the  high  price  simply  to  satisfy  their 
palates.  Up  to  a  few  years  ago  the  Japanese  plantation 
hands  wore  even  on  holidays  only  coarse  stiff  shoes  made 
by  Chinese  cobblers  in  Honolulu;  to-day  they  all  wear 
high-priced  shoes  made  in  the  States.  While  travelling 
on  the  lines  of  the  Oahu  Railway  on  Thanksgiving  Day, 
19 12,  I  saw  at  various  stations  and  on  the  train  many 
Japanese  women,  obviously  wives  of  plantation  labourers. 


224  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

all  dressed  in  national  robes  of  their  native  country  made 
of  costly  silk  evidently  imported  from  Japan.  Their  hus- 
bands, too,  were  clad  in  shining  new  suits  cut  in  the 
latest  style  in  New  York  or  Chicago.  In  comparison 
with  their  neat  appearance  and  their  quiet,  unobtrusive 
manner,  the  labourers  of  other  races,  whom  I  also  found 
on  the  same  train,  seemed  to  me  all  the  more  coarse  and 
unkempt.  One  of  these  uncouth  fellows  drew  a  bottle 
of  whiskey  from  his  trouser  pocket,  and  taking  a  sip 
directly  from  it,  passed  it  on  to  his  fellow  travellers. 
As  I  watched  them  jabber  in  unknown  tongues  and  with 
lively  gesture  as  if  there  were  nobody  else  in  the  car,  I 
was  struck  with  a  strange  sensation. 

When  we  tell  what  the  Japanese  expend  for  what  they 
wear  and  eat,  we  tell  only  the  beginning  of  the  story 
of  their  cost  of  living,  for  they  expend  for  education  and 
religious  purposes  more  liberally  than  other  people.  I 
was  told  that  a  well-to-do  Japanese  merchant  in  Hono- 
lulu has  to  contribute  at  least  $20  per  month  for  such 
purposes.  The  burden  of  plantation  labourers,  though 
not  so  heavy,  is  heavy  enough  for  their  earning  capacities. 
In  one  of  the  English  pamphlets  issued  on  behalf  of  the 
Japanese  strike  of  1909  I  find  the  following  statement 
couched  in  picturesque  language: 

"  These  institutions  [churches  and  schools]  are  not 
unnecessary  luxuries.  They  are  just  as  important  as 
bread  and  butter  in  the  Ufe  of  man.  They  will  give  the 
planter  an  intelligent,  conscientious,  and  God-fearing 
labour,  instead  of  lazy,  unscrupulous,  selfish,  and  savage 
labour.  The  Japanese  maintain  at  the  present  time  59 
churches  and  missions  with  61  ministers  and  preachers. 
Of  these  33  are  of  Buddhist  missions,  and  26  Christian. 
These  places  of  worship  have  remarkably  increased  in 
recent  years.    Down  to  1903  there  were  only  11  Christian 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   HAWAII  225 

missions,  but  since  that  year  10  were  added.  The  Bud- 
dhist missions  are  of  recent  growth.  The  first  mission 
was  estabUshed  in  1868,  and  within  the  last  ten  years 
they  have  maintained  only  21,  chapels,  but  since  then  they 
have  added  10  more.  Christians  do  not  bear,  as  a  gen- 
eral rule,  the  expenses  of  constructing  a  church  or 
preaching  place,  they  bearing  only  the  ordinary  expenses 
in  maintaining  the  establishment,  which  are  between  $30 
and  $50  per  month  for  one  place. 

"  But  the  Buddhists  bear  all  expenses  themselves.  In 
the  construction  of  their  churches  and  places  of  worship 
the  Buddhists  have  expended  some  $icx),ooo,  and  they 
are  bearing  average  current  expenses  of  $50  per  month 
in  each  place.  With  the  increase  of  women  and  children, 
these  churches  and  chapels  have  to  be  enlarged  in  ca- 
pacity and  increased  many  fold  in  number  and  improved 
in  quality. 

"  Religion  relates  to  the  relation  between  God  and 
man,  and  is,  in  one  sense,  a  private  matter.  But  no 
Christian  employer  can  be  blind  to  the  religious  demands 
of  his  employes.  The  present  and  prospective  needs  for 
adequate  and  decent  places  of  worship  for  the  plantation 
labourers  are  something  which  should  be  provided  for 
in  determining  the  wages  of  the  labourers. 

"  As  to  the  schools,  the  Japanese  now  maintain  68 
schools,  with  a  teaching  force  of  80.  They  are  both 
denominational  and  non-denominational.  These  schools 
now  have  4,631  pupils.  Taking  annual  expense  of  teach- 
ing one  pupil  in  these  schools  at  $1,  the  Japanese  labour- 
ers are  now  bearing  a  burden  of  $70,000  per  annum  for 
education  of  their  children.  These  schools,  like  their 
churches  and  Buddhist  temples,  must  be  improved,  en- 
larged, and  increased,  in  the  very  near  future.  This  is 
absolutely  necessary  in  view  of  the  rapid  increase  of 


226  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

children  and  also  of  the  necessity  to  raise  the  standard 
of  life  of  the  labourers." 

This  brings  us  to  an  enquiry  into  the  important  ques- 
tion of  education  of  Japanese  children.  In  a  previous 
chapter  I  have  discussed  at  length  the  Japanese  schools 
on  the  Pacific  Coast,  their  nature,  their  missions,  their 
raison  d'etre.  The  Japanese  schools  in  Hawaii  are  of 
greater  significance  because  of  their  larger  number  and 
larger  attendance. 

The  first  Japanese  school  in  Hawaii  was  established 
in  1895.  In  1904  there  were  44  schools,  and  at 
the  time  of  the  strike  of  1909  the  number  increased  to 
68.  At  present  there  are  80  schools.  Like  the  Japa- 
nese schools  on  the  Pacific  Coast  these  schools  are  meant 
merely  to  supplement  the  public  schools,  not  to  replace 
or  supersede  them.  Children  come  to  these  schools  in 
the  afternoon  after  their  regular  hours  in  the  public 
schools  are  over.  Some  of  them  are  maintained  by  Bud- 
dhists, a  few  by  Christian  missions,  while  others  are  non- 
sectarian.  In  the  back  country  I  found  some  of  the 
Japanese  schools  housed  in  much  better  buildings  than 
the  public  schools.  The  maintenance  of  such  schools 
entails  no  small  burden  on  the  Japanese  labourers.  Yet 
to  them  "  schools  are  as  important  as  bread  and  butter," 
and  they  ungrudgingly  bear  the  burden  even  at  the 
sacrifice  of  their  own  comfort.  As  Mr.  Ray  Stannard 
Baker  observes,  the  "  Japanese  in  Hawaii  have  a  passion 
for  education  and  send  their  young  people  to  school  un- 
til they  are  thoroughly  prepared."  Contrary  to  this  prac- 
tice among  the  Japanese,  the  Portuguese  plantation  la- 
bourers take  their  children  out  of  the  schools  very  early 
and  send  them  into  the  fields. 

The  peculiar  condition  of  life  in  Hawaii  perhaps 
necessitates  the  maintenance  of  such  afternoon  schools. 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   HAWAII  227 

On  the  plantations  there  is  virtually  no  home  where 
children  can  be  cared  for  and  brought  up  in  the  proper 
manner.  Camp  life  does  not  create  a  wholesome  atmos- 
phere for  children.  Moreover,  most  Japanese  women 
work  in  the  fields  to  supplement  the  meagre  earnings  of 
their  husbands.  When,  therefore,  the  public  schools 
close  in  the  afternoon,  the  Japanese  children  have  no- 
where to  go  and  nobody  to  look  after  them.  If  they 
were  allowed  to  shift  for  themselves  they  would  acquire 
no  desirable  habits  and  develop  no  good  qualities.  For 
the  sake  of  their  wholesome  growth,  mentally  and 
morally,  it  seems  desirable  and  even  imperative  that 
there  should  be  some  institutions  where  these  children 
of  the  plantation  hands  could  be  kept  engaged  in  light 
studies  and  wholesome  pastime,  until  their  parents  come 
home  from  the  fields.  If  the  Japanese  women,  like  their 
sisters  from  Portugal,  were  to  remain  at  home,  the  boys 
and  girls  would  have  to  be  taken  out  of  the  schools  be- 
fore they  are  fully  trained,  and  be  sent  into  the  fields,  as 
are  the  Portuguese  boys  and  girls.  This  the  Japanese 
will  never  do  until  they  have  exhausted  all  means  to  pro- 
vide for  the  proper  schooling  of  their  children. 

The  question  arises :  "  Will  not  the  Japanese  schools 
interfere  with  the  assimilation  of  the  Japanese?"  This 
I  have  already  discussed  in  the  chapter  on  the  Ameri- 
canization of  the  Japanese;  here  I  shall  set  forth 
what  the  Americans  in  Hawaii  think  about  the  ques- 
tion. 

The  leniency  and  broad-mindedness  with  which  the 
American  residents  of  Hawaii  view  this  question  are  re- 
markable. The  moral  and  religious  leaders  in  the  islands 
have  no  objection  whatever  to  the  Japanese  schools.  On 
the  contrary  they  unreservedly  recognize  the  need  for 
such  institutions,  believing  that  Japanese  children  should 


228  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

know  something  of  the  language  and  history  of  the  coun- 
try whence  their  parents  came.  When  one  hears  such 
views  unhesitatingly  expressed  by  Americans  one  is 
deeply  impressed  with  the  true  cosmopolitanism  of 
Hawaii.  I  found  among  them  quite  a  few  who  were  even 
well  versed  in  the  Japanese  language.  The  educators  of 
Hawaii,  too,  view  the  Japanese  school  question  much 
in  the  same  light  as  do  the  moral  and  religious  leaders. 
The  only  exception  they  make  is  that  work  in  the  Japa- 
nese schools  may  overtax  the  mental  and  physical  ca- 
pacity of  the  children  who  have  also  to  attend  the  public 
schools.  So  far  as  the  primary  grades  are  concerned, 
they  admit,  such  apprehension  may  be  unnecessary,  but 
in  the  high  school  the  extra  study  in  the  Japanese  school 
is  undoubtedly  an  overload.  My  observation  also  led 
me  to  believe  that  the  curriculum  both  in  the  primary 
and  high  schools  was  in  many  cases  too  heavy.  The 
planting  interests  view  the  educational  question  in  a 
slightly  different  light.  I  hardly  think  that  the  plantation 
managers,  with  few  exceptions,  are  seriously  concerned 
with  the  moral  and  mental  training  of  the  children  of 
their  employes.  All  they  care  is  to  make  conditions  so 
agreeable  as  to  bind  the  Japanese  to  the  plantations. 
They  know  that  without  schools  the  Japanese  would  not 
be  satisfied.  So  they  have  been  contributing  rather 
liberally  towards  the  educational  funds  of  the  Japanese. 
The  Planters'  Association  at  Honolulu  gives  $12,000 
every  year,  while  individual  plantations  also  donate  small 
sums  to  individual  schools.  The  contribution  from  the 
Planters'  Association  seems  a  goodly  sum,  but  when  dis- 
tributed among  the  eighty  schools  it  dwindles  into  com- 
parative insignificance. 

Contrary  to  the  attitude  of  the  civilians,  the  militarists 
in  Hawaii  see  a  "  menace  "  in  the  Japanese  schools.    To 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   HAWAII  229 

them  these  schools  are  there  to  foster  the  loyalty  of  the 
Japanese  children  to  their  mother  country.  In  their 
eyes,  all  Japanese,  whether  plantation  hands  or  mer- 
chants, are  trained  soldiers  ready  to  take  up  arms  for 
the  Mikado  the  moment  America  and  Japan  fall  out. 
They  believe,  or  pretend  to  believe,  that  the  Japanese 
came  to  Hawaii  with  the  determination  to  absorb  the 
islands,  and  that  the  Japanese  schools  are  but  a  part  of 
that  sinister  scheme.  Their  jealous  and  suspicious  atti- 
tude was  conspicuously  shown  when  they  raised  a  hue 
and  cry  against  a  Japanese  young  lady  who  was  selected 
to  read  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in  celebration 
of  Fourth  of  July  at  Honolulu  a  few  years  ago.  "  What 
a  scandal,"  they  muttered,  **to  let  a  Jap  girl  read  the 
sacred  document."  But  the  protest  of  the  militarists 
failed  to  supersede  the  decision  of  the  celebration  com- 
mittee, consisting  of  the  leading  American  residents  of 
Honolulu,  and  the  Japanese  girl  was  permitted  to  recite 
the  Declaration. 

Closely  connected  with  the  educational  question  is  the 
question  of  Buddhist  activities.  Not  only  have  the  Bud- 
dhists established  temples  in  cities  and  on  plantations, 
but  they  have  also  established  many  schools  throughout 
the  archipelago.  In  travelling  through  the  back  country 
by  train  the  first  thing  one  notices  from  the  car  is  the 
Buddhist  temple  rearing  its  quaint  roof  above  the  huts 
of  plantation  labourers.  With  the  exception  of  the  resi- 
dences occupied  by  plantation  managers  these  houses  of 
worship  are  the  only  structures  which  break  the  mo- 
notony of  the  vast  cane  fields  dotted  here  and  there 
with  clusters  of  camp  houses.  In  comparison  with  the 
dismal  structures  surrounding  them,  these  temples  pre- 
sent an  imposing  appearance.  Small  wonder  that  the 
Japanese  labourers  point  to  them  with  a  sense  of  pride. 


230  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

Even  the  natives  and  Portuguese  labourers  lOok  upon 
them  as  a  mark  of  superior  civilization. 

The  attitude  of  Christian  workers  in  Hawaii  towards 
Buddhist  propaganda  is  characterized  with  broad- 
mindedness  and  leniency.  They  unreservedly  admit  that 
the  Buddhist  has  the  right  to  propagate  his  doctrines  in 
Hawaii  just  as  the  Christian  has  the  right  to  preach 
the  Gospel  in  Japan.  The  only  apprehension  they  enter- 
tain is  that  some  of  the  Buddhist  priests  and  the  teachers 
of  Buddhist  schools  are  inclined  to  inspire  loyalty  to 
Japan  as  a  means  of  propagating  Buddhism.  How  far 
this  apprehension  is  true  I  am  not  ready  to  determine, 
but  that  it  is  not  without  foundation  no  one  can  gainsay. 

The  Buddhist  schools  seem  to  be  one  of  the  means  of 
propagating  Buddhism.  Aggressive  and  enterprising, 
the  Buddhist  workers  are  often  a  disturbing  element  in 
plantation  camps.  They  would  go  forth  and  establish 
a  school  where  there  is  already  a  non-religious  school,  and 
where  no  other  school  is  needed.  Trouble  immediately 
begins,  for  the  Buddhists  resort  to  all  means  in  trying  to 
take  pupils  out  of  the  non-religious  school  and  enroll 
them  in  their  own.  When  I  was  in  Hawaii  Island  the 
Japanese  Vice-Consul  at  Honolulu  was  making  a  tour  of 
the  island  with  a  view  to  finding  the  way  out  of  this 
perennial  trouble.  It  was  the  Vice-Consul's  opinion  that 
where  there  was  school  trouble  the  blame  was  usually 
to  be  placed  at  the  door  of  the  Buddhists.  The  Japanese 
Consul-General,  upon  receipt  of  the  Vice-Consul's  re- 
ports, formulated  a  plan  to  organize  an  education  com- 
mittee by  which  all  the  Japanese  schools  in  the  islands 
were  to  be  supervised.  The  committee  was  to  consist 
of  leading  Japanese  business  men,  editors,  teachers,  and 
Christians  and  Buddhists,  as  well  as  a  few  Americans  in 
Honolulu.     The  committee  thus  organized  was  to  be 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   HAWAII  231 

absolutely  non-sectarian,  and  the  schools  under  its  super- 
vision were  likewise  to  be  non-sectarian.  Such  a  plan 
would  seem  to  me  the  only  feasible  one  which  would  re- 
move the  present  school  troubles.  At  this  writing,  how- 
ever, the  plan  is  not  yet  put  into  execution. 

In  spite  of  the  large  number  of  adherents  the  Bud- 
dhists claim  to  possess  in  the  islands  it  is  highly  doubt- 
ful if  they  are  achieving  much  in  the  world  of  the  spirit. 
It  seems  to  be  the  universal  opinion  among  the  Japanese 
of  the  educated  class  that  the  Buddhist  priests  are  in  Ha- 
waii mainly  for  their  own  material  gain.  They  seem 
to  be  concerned  chiefly  with  the  collection  of  offerings 
from  their  parishioners.  If  a  priest  stays  in  Hawaii 
four  or  five  years,  he  usually  amasses  what  he  considers 
a  competence.  Unlike  American  missionaries  in  the  for- 
eign fields  these  Buddhist  priests  are  not  paid  from 
their  headquarters  in  Japan.  All  Buddhist  missions  are 
self-supporting,  and  the  priests  in  charge  of  them  get 
what  stipend  they  can  make  out  of  the  votive  offerings 
of  their  parishoners.  In  Hawaii  I  noticed  each  priest 
had  five  or  six  camps  in  his  charge.  In  the  evening  he 
goes  out  on  a  pony  and  pays  a  visit  to  the  camp,  where 
he  says  a  few  comforting  words  to  the  labourers  and 
recites  the  stereotyped  sutras,  and  receives  offerings 
from  his  pious  audience.  As  he  visits  all  camps  alter- 
nately, one  each  evening,  his  evenings  are  pretty  well 
occupied,  repeating  sermons  and  collecting  offerings. 

That  the  Japanese  people  are  intensely  religious  there 
is  no  room  to  doubt,  but  that  they  are  in  urgent  need  of 
sound  guidance  is  also  evident.  The  corruption  of  the  Bud- 
dhist hierarchy  in  Japan  is  proverbial.  The  Hongwan-ji 
temple  at  Kyoto  is  the  hotbed  of  financial  troubles  and 
factional  feuds.  Water  cannot  rise  above  its  source, 
and  it  is  small  wonder  that  the  Buddhist  priests,  with  a 


232  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

few  notable  exceptions,  are  men  without  inspiration  or 
ideals.  It  is  very  well  for  Hongwan-ji  to  send  priests 
abroad,  but  unless  its  system  and  methods  of  propaganda 
are  completely  reformed,  the  presence  of  such  priests  in 
such  countries  as  Hawaii  can  do  more  harm  than  good. 
The  erecting  of  temples  and  the  maintenance  of  the 
priests  entail  no  small  financial  burden  on  the  plantation 
hands.  That  the  burden  is  borne  cheerfully  and  will- 
ingly is  no  justification  of  the  imposition.  Up  to  the 
time  of  the  Japanese  strike  of  1909  the  Japanese  labour- 
ers had  already  contributed  $100,000  for  the  erection  of 
Buddhist  temples  alone.  When  I  was  in  Hawaii  in  1912 
the  Buddhists  had  just  decided  to  build  a  new  temple 
at  Honolulu  at  a  cost  of  $100,000.  Not  only  have  the 
Japanese  in  Hawaii  to  bear  such  heavy  burdens,  but  they 
are  even  required  to  make  occasional  contributions  to 
Hongwan-ji  at  Kyoto.  A  few  years  ago  a  special  emis- 
sary of  Hongwan-ji  came  to  Hawaii  and  collected  $50,- 
000  for  a  festival  which  was  to  be  held  in  Kyoto.  The 
emissary,  encouraged  by  his  unexpected  success  in 
Hawaii,  came  to  California  with  the  intention  of  collect- 
ing more  contributions  from  the  Japanese  there.  But 
here  he  met  his  Waterloo,  for  the  Japanese  on  the  Coast 
proved  far  more  clear-sighted  and  well-informed  than 
their  brothers  in  Hawaii.  The  Japanese  newspapers 
there  raised  a  storm  of  protest  against  him,  and  the 
envoy  had  to  leave  San  Francisco  under  very  awkward 
circumstances. 

On  the  mainland,  too,  the  Christians  have  strong  rivals 
in  Buddhists.  In  Vancouver,  Seattle,  Portland,  Fresno, 
and  Los  Angeles,  the  Buddhists  have  established  respect- 
able headquarters  which  are  used  both  as  places  of  wor- 
ship and  as  dormitories  for  Japanese  young  men.  In 
San  Francisco  they  are  also  planning  to  erect  a  building 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   HAWAII  233 

much  larger  than  those  in  the  other  cities.  If  the  pur- 
pose of  the  Buddhists  were  to  propagate  the  teachings 
of  Buddha,  pure  and  simple,  the  American  people,  I  am 
sure,  would  have  little  to  complain  of.  Much  to  our 
regret,  we  find  some  of  the  Buddhist  priests  are  inclined 
to  link  Buddhism  with  patriotism  to  Japan,  knowing  that 
this  method  of  propaganda  appeals  to  the  ignorant 
masses.  I  do  not  see  why  the  Japanese  Buddhists  could 
not  be  broad-minded  enough,  and  clear-sighted  enough, 
to  see  the  folly  of  such  a  policy.  Out  of  my  sincere 
respect  for  their  character  and  ideals  I  prefer  to  believe 
that  the  Buddhist  leaders  themselves  are  absolutely  inno- 
cent, and  positively  disapprove  such  unscrupulous  means 
as  have  been  resorted  to  by  their  followers.  It  is  also  re- 
grettable that  the  Buddhists  keep  aloof  from  the  Chris- 
tians and  apparently  have  no  desire  to  cooperate  with 
them.  Perhaps  the  Christians  themselves  are  to  blame. 
Both  Christianity  and  Buddhism,  however  different  from 
each  other  in  essential  teachings,  aim  at  the  promotion 
of  the  spiritual  well-being  of  humanity.  In  the  field  of 
practical  social  reform,  therefore,  they  ought  to  be  co- 
workers, not  antagonists.  To  bring  this  about  both 
Christians  and  Buddhists  must  first  of  all  abandon  their 
narrow  views  of  religion. 


XIV 
THE  JAPANESE  IN  CANADA 

IT  was  more  than  forty  years  ago.  A  Japanese  lad, 
so  the  story  runs,  was  building  a  boat  at  a  hamlet 
of  fisherfolk  not  far  from  Nagasaki,  the  greatest 
port  in  Southern  Japan.  Now  and  then  the  young  ship- 
wright stopped  plying  his  tools,  and  seemed  absorbed  in 
meditation.  At  last  he  muttered,  "  I  must  go !  "  and  with 
these  words  he  left  his  work.  Why  had  he  to  go? — 
And  where? 

The  Mikado's  Empire,  having  just  been  opened  to 
foreign  intercourse,  was  animated  with  an  aspiration 
for  higher  knowledge  and  advanced  arts.  Even  the 
young  boat-builder  could  not  escape  the  spirit  of  the 
times.  He  had  seen  in  the  harbour  of  Nagasaki  many 
a  gigantic  vessel  from  Europe  and  America,  of  which  the 
populace  sang  in  a  sense  of  mingled  awe  and  curiosity: 

"Thro'  a  black  night  of  cloud  and  rain, 
The  Black  Ship  plies  her  way — 
An  alien  thing  of  evil  mien — 
Across  the  waters  grey. 

Down  in  her  hold,  there  labour  men 
Of  jet  black  visage  dread; 
While  fair  of  face,  stand  by  her  guns 
Grim  hundreds  clad  in  red. 

With  cheeks  half  draped  in  shaggy  beards, 
Their  glance  fixed  on  the  wave, 
They  seek  our  sun-land  at  the  word 
Of  captain  owlish-grave. 
234 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   CANADA  235 

While  loud  they  come — the  boom  of  drums 
And  songs  in  strange  uproar; 
And  now  with  flesh  and  herb  in  store, 
They  turn  toward  the  Western  shore. 

And  slowly  floating  onward  go, 

These  Black  Ships  wave-tossed  to  and  fro." 

The  imposing  presence  of  the  "  Black  Ship  "  inspired 
the  young  shipwright  with  an  idea  to  go  to  the  country 
whence  she  came  and  learn  how  those  fair-visaged  men 
with  "  shaggy  beards  "  built  such  floating  castles  of  the 
ocean.  So  Nagano — for  such  was  his  name — wended 
his  way  to  Nagasaki,  and  there  seeing  the  captain  of 
one  of  the  Black  Ships,  begged  to  be  taken  where  the 
vessel  came.  The  captain  consented,  and  the  steamer, 
a  sort  of  tramp  vessel,  left  Nagasaki  with  Nagano 
aboard. 

An  uneducated  man,  Nagano  imagined  that  any  coun- 
try on  the  other  side  of  the  Pacific  would  be  a  great  in- 
dustrial country,  manufacturing  powerful  engines  and 
building  mammoth  vessels.  He  did  not  know  that  San 
Francisco  was  then  an  infant  city,  and  that  Seattle  and 
Vancouver  were  scarcely  on  the  map.  It  happened  that 
Nagano's  steamer  after  a  tedious  voyage  cast  anchor  at 
a  lonely  hamlet  on  the  west  coast  of  Canada.  Imagine 
his  disappointment!  There  was  no  bustling  factory,  no 
hammering  traffic,  no  thriving  stores.  Where  was  he  to 
study  the  art  of  ship-building? 

Nagano  was  the  first  Japanese  who  trod  the  shores  of 
British  Columbia.  At  the  time  of  his  landing  there  were 
but  a  handful  of  white  men  in  New  Westminster  and 
vicinity.  The  straggling  village  was  hemmed  in  by  thick 
primeval  forests  of  cedar  and  hemlock.  The  only 
traffic  which  broke  the  sylvan  solitudes  was  a  sawmill 
operated  by  a  Britirher  named  Alexander.    Indians  were 


236  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

roaming  about.  The  railroad  had  not  yet  brought  the 
white  man's  civilization  across  the  Rockies.  No  one 
fancied  the  country  about  that  solitary  sawmill  was 
destined  to  become  the  Pacific  metropolis  of  the  Do- 
minion. 

Had  Nagano  been  a  man  of  education  and  foresight, 
he  would  have  secured  a  large  tract  of  land,  for  the 
authorities  of  New  Westminster  were  giving  land  to  any- 
body almost  for  the  asking.  An  ignorant  carpenter,  he 
was  contented  to  work  for  wages  which  he  found  to  be 
almost  fabulous  in  comparison  with  what  he  was  used 
to  earn  at  home.  While  most  of  his  fellow  pioneers 
from  Europe  or  the  United  States  have  since  amassed 
large  fortunes  by  landholdings,  Nagano  is  to-day  only 
the  proprietor  of  a  couple  of  modest  stores  in  Victoria. 

For  several  years  Nagano  was  a  lone  Japanese  in 
British  Columbia.  With  the  development  of  the  fishery 
industry,  however,  Japanese  began  to  filter  in  in  small 
numbers.  Soon  the  canning  interests  found  the  Japanese 
fishermen  unequalled  as  salmon  catchers.  The  Chinese 
were  also  brought  in,  but  they  were  more  useful  in  can- 
ning than  in  fishing.  Thus  the  demand  for  Japanese 
labour  on  the  Fraser  River  grew  with  phenomenal 
rapidity,  until  in  1900  the  Japanese  Fishermen's  Asso- 
ciation of  the  Fraser  River  had  3,419  members.  The 
report  of  the  Association  shows  a  considerable  fluctuation 
in  its  membership.  Here  are  the  figures  for  fourteen 
years  from  1900  to  1913: 


1900  3,419  1907  1,018 

1901  3471  1908  984 

1902  1,160  1909  1,569 

1903  1,860  1910  1,100 

1904  883  1911   942 

1905  1,252  1912  954 

1906  584  1913   1,535 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   CANADA  237 

There  are  also  a  considerable  number  of  Japanese 
operating  on  the  Skeena  and  the  Nass.  Including  these 
the  present  number  of  Japanese  fishermen  in  British  Co- 
lumbia probably  is  not  less  than  2,500.  The  Japanese 
fishermen  are  to  the  Province  what  the  Japanese  planta- 
tion hands  are  to  Hawaii.  In  spite  of  all  the  hue  and 
cry  raised  by  the  labour  unions  against  the  Japanese, 
British  Columbia  is  constrained  to  admit  that  no  other 
fishermen  as  efficient  are  available.  The  Indians  are  dull 
and  indolent,  while  most  Caucasians  dislike  or  are  ill- 
adapted  to  salmon  fishing.  In  19 10  there  were  in  British 
Columbia  1,270  boats  employed  in  salmon  fishing.  Of 
these  the  Japanese  fishermen  owned  793,  while  the 
Caucasians  and  Indians  had  315  and  162  respect- 
ively. 

Along  with  timber,  salmon  is  a  principal  product  of 
British  Columbia.  The  Fraser,  the  Skeena,  the  Nass,  as 
well  as  other  rivers  and  inlets,  annually  produce  940,000 
cases  of  canned  salmon,  each  case  containing  twenty- 
four  one-pound  cans.  The  Fraser  River,  the  greatest 
of  fishing-grounds  in  the  Province,  produced  in  191 1 
some  301,000  cases.  Here  the  Japanese  fishermen  num- 
ber from  1,000  to  1,500,  operating  more  than  500  boats, 
all  fitted  with  gasoline  engines.  The  boats  and  nets  be- 
longing to  the  Japanese  operating  on  the  Fraser  alone 
are  valued  at  half  a  million  dollars.  Steveston,  not  far 
from  Vancouver,  is  the  rendezvous  of  all  fisherfolk  on 
this  great  stream.  Here  the  Japanese  have  established 
two  or  three  shipyards  where  small  fishing  craft,  five 
tons  in  capacity  and  thirty  feet  in  length,  are  turned  out 
both  for  Japanese  and  other  fishermen.  There  are  also 
a  well-appointed  Japanese  hospital,  a  Japanese  school,  a 
Japanese  Christian  church,  and  a  number  of  Japanese 
stores  and  shops.     The  hospital,  superintended  by  an 


238  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

English  physician,  is  a  boon  for  fisherfolk  of  all  races 
on  the  Fraser. 

Unlike  his  brothers  on  the  Hawaiian  plantations,  the 
Japanese  fisherman  is  quite  independent.  He  is  not 
bound  by  contract  to  the  cannery.  He  receives  no  wages 
from  the  cannery.  On  the  contrary,  he  owns  his  boat 
and  nets,  and  catches  salmon  on  his  own  account.  The 
only  relation  between  him  and  the  cannery  is  that  of  a 
seller  and  buyer.  The  cannery,  however,  provides  living 
quarters  for  the  fishermen.  I  found  most  of  such  quar- 
ters far  less  attractive  and  sanitary  than  the  camp-houses 
on  the  plantations  in  Hawaii ;  but  inasmuch  as  the  Japa- 
nese fishermen  are  not  employes  of  the  cannery  they 
have  no  right  to  demand  the  improvement  of  their  living 
quarters.  It  should  be  their  own  duty  to  expend  reason- 
able sums  for  the  erection  of  more  sanitary  and  decent 
houses. 

Not  only  do  the  Japanese  catch  salmon  for  the  can- 
neries, but  they  have  also  created  new  industries  in 
fishery  which  promise  in  time  to  become  no  small  source 
of  wealth  for  the  Province.  One  such  industry  is  the 
salting  of  dog-salmon.  Before  the  Japanese  began  to 
utilize  them  for  export  to  Japan  and  China,  salmon  of 
this  species  had  been  wasted,  as  no  cannery  cared  to 
use  them.  During  the  past  several  years  the  annual 
export  of  salted  salmon  has  ranged  from  3,000  to  7,000 
tons. 

Another  industry  created  by  the  Japanese  is  herring 
salting.  Thirty  miles  from  the  city  of  Vancouver  is 
Nanaimo  Bay,  embraced  by  the  jutting  promontories  of 
Vancouver  Island.  The  bay  abounds  in  herring,  but  the 
Canadians  never  attempted  to  utilize  them  for  com- 
mercial purposes  until  the  Japanese  began  to  salt  them 
some  ten  years  ago.     So  rapidly  has  this  new  industry 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   CANADA  239 

developed  that  Nanaimo,  which  used  to  be  called  the 
Coal  City  on  account  of  the  coal  mines  in  the  vicinity, 
is  now  called  the  Herring  City.  The  Nanaimo  Herald 
estimates  the  capital  invested  by  the  Japanese  in  this 
enterprise  at  $220,000.  Salted  herring  are  exported  to 
Japan,  Korea,  Manchuria,  and  China.  Up  to  a  few  years 
ago  Japan  was  the  distributing  centre  for  Canadian 
herring  for  other  Oriental  countries.  In  1910,  however, 
Mr.  Jackson,  Canada's  trade  agent  at  Shanghai,  reported 
that  the  direct  export  of  herring  from  British  Columbia 
to  the  Chinese  marts  of  Shanghai  and  Hong-Kong  had 
just  begun.  He  added  that  of  all  the  marine  products 
of  Canada  finding  their  way  to  China  salted  herring  was 
the  most  important.  At  present  the  annual  export  of 
Canadian  herring  to  Oriental  countries  is  estimated  at 
30,000  tons.  As  the  Chinese  are  great  consumers  of 
dried  and  salted  fish  this  trade  is  bound  to  increase. 

Travelling  in  the  wooded  country  of  British  Columbia, 
one  often  hears  the  sharp  whistle  of  an  engine  breaking 
the  still  air  of  the  forest.  It  is  the  signal  whistle  of  the 
"  logging  donkey."  The  donkey  is  a  hoisting  engine  of 
heavy  design  and  is  used  in  bringing  the  logs  into  driv- 
able  waters  or  more  frequently  to  railroads,  by  dragging 
them  on  the  ground  with  wire  cables.  A  more  powerful 
device  is  the  steam-skidder,  which  handles  immense  trees 
weighing  fifteen  or  twenty  tons  as  if  they  were  straws. 

In  the  logging  industry  the  Japanese  have  also  become 
a  factor.  At  present  Japanese  bosses  and  labourers  en- 
gaged in  this  work  number  about  1,000.  The  bosses  obtain 
logging  contracts  from  the  lumber  companies  which  own 
timber  lands.  In  the  sawmills  in  the  vicinity  of  Van- 
couver, too,  the  Japanese  are  employed  to  a  considerable 
extent.  Including  some  400  women  and  children,  there 
are  some  1,500  Japanese  mill  hands.     Unskilled  hands 


^ 


240  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

receive  daily  wages  varying  from  $1.75  to  $2.00  v^hile 
skilled  mechanics  get  $2.50  per  day. 

Apart  from  fishery,  logging,  and  lumbering  there  is 
no  industry  in  which  the  Japanese  are  engaged  in  large 
numbers,  either  as  labourers  or  as  capitalists.  A  body 
of  Japanese  worked  what  was  supposed  to  be  a  copper- 
mine,  on  an  island  off  British  Columbia,  but  this  enter- 
prise has  proved  a  total  failure,  notwithstanding  an 
alarmist's  statement  that  one  small  syndicate  of  Japa- 
nese now  "  possesses  a  copper-mine  worth  nearly  a 
million  pounds."  The  present  Japanese  population  in 
Canada  probably  does  not  exceed  12,000,  of  whom  al- 
most ninety  per  cent,  are  in  British  Columbia.  This 
population  may  be  roughly  classified  by  occupation  as 
follows : 

Fishery  2,500 

Logging    1,000 

Sawmill    1,500 

Agriculture 500 

Miscellaneous    labourers    l,50O 

Merchants  and   employes    3,000 

Women  and  children 2,000 

In  agriculture  the  Japanese  are  yet  a  negligible  quan- 
tity, although  the  Dominion  extends  to  them  the  privi- 
lege of  taking  up  homesteads.  Perhaps  this  is  mainly 
due  to  the  fact  that  fishery  and  logging  have  been  more 
immediately  remunerative  than  farming.  Moreover, 
government  lands  in  good  locations  are  already  monop- 
olized by  railway  companies  or  other  private  interests 
and  are  held  for  sale  at  exorbitant  prices.  Those  still 
available  for  farmers  of  small  means  are  so  inconveni- 
ently situated  that  few  care  to  develop  them. 

Nevertheless  the  manifest  tendency  among  the  Japa- 
nese is  to  take  more  and  more  to  farming.  In  British 
Columbia,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  Vancouver  and 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   CANADA  241 

Victoria,  quite  a  few  Japanese  are  engaged  in  gardening 
and  fruit-growing.  Their  holdings  are  small,  ranging, 
except  in  a  few  cases,  from  five  to  twenty  acres.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  Rockies,  too,  a  few  enterprising  Japa- 
nese have  begun  to  work  grain  farms  in  Alberta  and 
Saskatchewan,  but  the  total  acreage  of  such  farms  does 
not  yet  exceed  2,000.  Alberta,  Saskatchewan,  and 
British  Columbia,  with  a  total  area  of  878,715  square 
miles,  and  with  their  natural  resources  but  little  devel- 
oped, await  the  immigration  of  industrious,  intelligent, 
honest  aliens,  who  do  not  seek  easy  money  and  a  gentle- 
man's job,  but  are  willing  to  toil  and  to  live  on  the  sweat 
of  their  brows. 

Of  the  total  Japanese  population  in  Canada  about 
one-third  live  in  cities.  Vancouver  has  some  3,500, 
Victoria,  300,  and  even  Dawson  in  the  far  north  has 
about  100  Japanese.  About  a  hundred  more  are  scat- 
tered in  various  cities  east  of  the  Rockies. 

In  Vancouver  Powell  Street  is  the  centre  of  the  Japa- 
nese quarters.  At  first  glance  that  street  presents  no 
exotic  aspect.  Neat  stores  and  shops,  European  in  ap- 
pearance, line  a  well  paved  street  provided  with  broad 
cement  sidewalks.  With  clanging  street  cars  running 
through  it,  the  Japanese  street  is  as  bustling  and  hustling 
as  any  business  street  in  the  strenuous  Occident.  As 
you  walk  down  the  street  or  ride  through  it  in  a  street 
car,  you  hardly  notice  where  the  European  section  con- 
verges with  the  Japanese  section.  True,  the  stores  are 
mostly  small  and  often  meagre,  but  they  have  no  untidy 
appearance  which  so  frequently  mars  the  stores  in  "  for- 
eign" quarters.  When  I  was  in  Vancouver  last  year  a 
large  four-story  building  was  rearing  its  roof  in  the  heart 
of  the  Japanese  section  of  Powell  Street.  It  was  being 
built  by  Mr.  Tamura,  the  wealthiest  Japanese  merchant 


242  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

in  Vancouver,  who  has  largely  been  instrumental  in  de- 
veloping trade  between  Japan  and  British  Columbia. 
That  building,  which  was  to  be  used  as  a  hotel,  would 
do  credit  to  any  business  section. 

While  in  Vancouver  I  chanced  to  pick  up  in  a  maga- 
zine shop  a  local  monthly,  in  which  was  printed  an  article 
on  the  Japanese  in  that  city.  The  author  of  that  article 
obviously  belonged  to  that  school  of  writers  whose  sense 
of  honour  does  not  prevent  them  from  telling  such  un- 
blushing lies  as  that  the  Japanese  are  so  dishonest  that 
all  Japanese  banks  have  to  employ  Chinese  cashiers,  for 
he  says  that  "  even  in  Japan  the  Japanese  does  not  trust 
anybody."  And  yet  this  very  writer  is  constrained  to 
write  of  the  Japanese  in  Vancouver: 

"  In  Canada  the  Japanese  gets  along  well  and  makes 
money.  He  is  sober  and  without  the  coarser  criminal 
tendencies.  He  gives  the  police  little  trouble.  .  .  .  The 
Japanese  in  this  country  has  cast  away  his  household 
gods,  or  at  least  he  has  laid  them  away — with  moth 
balls.  He  does  not  in  Vancouver  hang  a  lantern  over 
his  door  to  drive  away  evil  spirits,  or  burn  joss-paper 
to  propitiate  them." 

Again  his  picture  of  Powell  Street  is  fairly  truthful. 
We  read:  * 

"  At  first  glance  only  the  window-signs  and  the  dried 
devil-fish  and  straw  sandals  and  sake  bottles  in  the  win- 
dows themselves  tell  you  that  you  are  in  the  Japanese 
quarter.  But  presently  you  notice  a  barber  shop  in  which 
a  Japanese  woman  barber  is  shaving  a  troglodyte  of  a 
coolie  with  a  razor  of  unfamiliar  shape,  and  you  hear 
from  an  upper  window  the  weak  tinkle  of  a  Japanese 
lute,  and  a  voice  pitched  high,  singing  something  with  a 
queer  slow  rhythm. 

"  These  things  are  all  I  saw  or  heard  on  Powell  Street 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   CANADA  243 

that  I  might  not  have  seen  and  heard  on  any  street  in 
Vancouver.  Look  for  something  picturesque  and  Orien- 
tal on  Powell  Street,  as  I  did,  and  you  will  look  in  vain. 
You  will  see  no  Japanese  wearing  a  single  rag  of  the  cos- 
tume of  his  country.  American  store-clothes  is  the  rai- 
ment of  the  Nipponese  in  Vancouver,  and  small  is  the 
percentage  of  picturesqueness  in  the  blue  overall. 

**  Powell  Street  is  a  monochrome ;  there  is  no  colour. 
There  is  not  a  suggestion  of  the  Japanese  architecture 
in  any  of  the  buildings.  The  shop  windows  have  little 
in  them  that  is  interesting  or  curious.  Little  of  the  stuff 
is  Japanese.  Some  carved  ivory,  a  little  china,  Japanese 
cereals,  some  dried  vegetables  and  fish,  some  primitive- 
looking  carpentry  tools,  and  agricultural  or  rather  gar- 
dening implements  in  a  hardware  store  window  were  all 
that  I  saw." 

A  block  from  the  centre  of  the  Japanese  section  of 
Powell  Street  you  come  across  a  large,  unsightly  struc- 
ture. It  is  the  Japanese  school  maintained  by  the  Japa- 
nese residents  for  their  children.  At  present  the  school 
has  130  pupils.  If  your  mind  is  critically  inclined,  you 
will  find  here  in  this  building  a  problem  worthy  of  sober 
consideration. 

The  Japanese  school  in  Vancouver  is  different  from 
those  in  the  United  States  and  Hawaii.  In  the  latter 
case  the  Japanese  schools  are  supplementary  to  the  pub- 
lic schools,  but  the  Vancouver  institution  is  a  substitute 
for  the  municipal  school.  The  difference  is  chiefly  due 
to  the  fact  that  while  education  is  compulsory  in  the 
United  States  and  Hawaii,  it  is  not  in  British  Columbia. 
I  do  not  think  the  Japanese  schools  as  conducted  in  the 
United  States  would  interfere  with  the  assimilation  of 
the  Japanese  children.  Their  curriculum  is  simple,  and 
the   session,   always   in   the   afternoon,   lasts   only   two 


244  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

hours.  What  they  intend  to  do  is  to  disseminate  knowl- 
edge of  the  Japanese  language,  history,  and  geography, 
the  study  of  which  is  sadly  neglected  in  the  public  schools 
in  America.  Moreover,  as  I  have  already  discussed  in 
previous  chapters,  they  have  their  distinct  mission  arising 
out  of  the  peculiar  situation  on  the  Pacific  Coast  and 
in  Hawaii. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Japanese  school  in  Vancouver 
is  not  an  afternoon  school;  it  is  a  complete  educational 
system  of  the  primary  grade  conducted  in  accord  with 
the  principles  adopted  in  Japan.  The  text-books  are 
all  Japanese,  although  English  is  taught  by  an  English 
teacher  one  hour  every  day.  The  knowledge  of  English 
acquired  in  such  a  school  is  too  scant  to  be  of  any  prac- 
tical use,  and  the  ideas  and  traits  developed  by  such  an 
educational  system  would  be  more  Japanese  than  Cana- 
dian. The  Japanese  children  attending  the  Japanese 
school  never  come  into  contact  with  Canadian  children, 
thus  depriving  them  of  the  opportunity  to  increase  their 
knowledge  of  English  and  to  absorb  the  ideas  and  cus- 
toms of  the  country  which  harbours  them  and  their 
parents.  The  public  school  is  the  most  powerful  assimi- 
lative organ,  the  **  melting  pot  of  the  races,"  wherein 
children  of  different  races  and  nationalities  mingle  with 
one  another  and  acquire  common  knowledge  and  develop 
common  traits. 

Although  a  few  Japanese  residents  send  their  children 
to  public  schools,  it  is  highly  regrettable  that  the  ma- 
jority seem  to  prefer  the  Japanese  institution.  Never- 
theless the  leading  Japanese,  men  of  learning  and  fore- 
sight, have  begun  to  see  the  disadvantage  and  unwisdom 
of  maintaining  such  a  school,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
this  school,  if  it  has  to  be  continued  at  all,  will  at  any 
rate  cease  to  exist  as  a  substitute  for  the  public  school, 


THE  JAPANESE  IN   CANADA  245 

but  will  become  an  institution  like  the  Japanese  schools 
in  the  United  States,  with  a  simple  curriculum  and  short 
hours.  At  the  same  time,  British  Columbia,  it  seems  to 
me,  should  adopt  a  compulsory  educational  system,  com- 
pelling the  Japanese  parents  to  send  their  children  to 
public  schools. 

One  thing  that  struck  me  as  being  particularly  un- 
fortunate during  my  sojourn  in  British  Columbia  was 
the  inadequate  provision  of  educational  agencies.  The 
public  library  of  Vancouver,  though  housed  in  a  respect- 
able building  donated  by  Mr.  Carnegie,  is  deplorably  ill- 
equipped.  In  the  United  States  a  city  of  Vancouver's 
wealth  and  population  would  have  a  far  better-appointed 
public  library.  Again  in  the  United  States  a  common- 
wealth, with  250,000  population  and  an  area  of  373,000 
square  miles,  would  undoubtedly  provide  a  state  uni- 
versity, and  have  a  few  colleges  maintained  by  private 
interests.  In  British  Columbia  there  is  yet  no  university 
maintained  by  the  province,  while  none  of  the  few  private 
institutions  for  higher  education  has  risen  to  the  dignity 
of  a  college.  Ambitious  young  men  of  the  province 
aspiring  for  college  education  must  either  enroll  them- 
selves in  American  universities  across  the  boundary  line, 
or  go  to  Toronto,  2,000  miles  east  of  Vancouver.  Is  it 
not  time  for  British  Columbia  to  pause  and  slacken  her 
pace  in  the  race  for  material  prosperity  and  devote  more 
attention  to  the  promotion  of  higher  culture  and  civili- 
zation ? 

And  yet  it  is  hardly  fair  to  speak  so  slightingly  of 
British  Columbia's  achievements  in  the  field  of  culture. 
As  I  sit  in  a  refined  little  room  at  the  Dominion  Hotel 
at  Victoria,  and  listen  to  Mr.  Nagano  recount  the  story 
of  the  adventure  which  landed  him  forty  odd  years  ago 
at  a  little  hamlet  which  was  to  become  the  great  city  of 


246  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

Vancouver,  I  muse  over  the  marvellous  transformation 
which  has  taken  place  in  British  Columbia  in  that  brief 
period.  From  my  windows  I  gaze  at  the  majestic  dome 
of  the  provincial  capitol  and  at  the  splendid  residences 
mantled  with  vines,  surrounded  by  azure  greensward, 
adorned  with  stately  trees  and  smiling  flowers,  and  my 
heart  is  filled  with  admiration  for  the  enterprise  and 
progressive  spirit  of  those  men  who  have  been  instru- 
mental in  making  British  Columbia  what  it  is.  Verily 
those  forty  years  are  a  millennium. 


XV 
"WHITE  CANADA" 

LIKE  other  British  colonies,  Canada  regards  its  ter- 
^  ritory  as  closed  to  Oriental  races — its  watchword 
is  "  White  Canada."     That  mystifying  yet  singu- 
larly appealing   expression   has   been   industriously   ex- 
ploited,  especially   by   those   affiliated   with  the   labour 
unions  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 

And  yet  Canada's  treatment  of  Asiatic  races  cannot  be 
said  to  have  always  been  severe.  True,  it  raises  against 
the  Orient  a  barrier  as  insurmountable  as  that  erected 
in  other  exclusive  countries,  but  those  Asiatic  immigrants 
who  were  allowed  to  enter  the  country  in  accord  with  the 
provisions  of  the  immigration  law  Canada  has  as  a  rule 
treated  with  consideration  and  even  leniency.  She  has 
extended  to  the  Orientals  the  privilege  of  naturalization 
and  even  of  securing  homesteads.  Even  in  British  Co- 
lumbia, the  stronghold  of  the  anti-Oriental  agitation,  no 
such  discriminatory  laws  as  have  been  proposed  and 
enacted  in  California  have  been  introduced  in  its  legis- 
lature. There  the  Japanese  and  Chinese  are  permitted 
to  conduct  business  and  cultivate  land  not  only  un- 
molested but  enjoying  all  privileges  enjoyed  by  British 
subjects  in  Canada.  They  can  own  land  both  urban  and 
rural,  and  in  provinces  other  than  British  Columbia  they 
even  enjoy  voting  privileges. 

The  question  arises :  "  Why  of  all  provinces  and  terri- 
tories does  British  Columbia  alone  discriminate  against 

247 


248  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

the  Orientals  in  the  matter  of  the  franchise?"  In  Yukon 
Territory  there  are  about  a  hundred  Japanese,  most  of 
whom  are  naturalized,  while  in  the  provinces  east  of  the 
Rockies  what  small  number  of  Japanese  there  are  have 
also  sworn  allegiance  to  Canada.  All  these  naturalized 
Japanese  exercise  the  franchise  just  as  though  they  were 
native  Canadians.  But  in  British  Columbia  the  Japa- 
nese, though  free  to  become  citizens,  are  not  allowed  to 
cast  the  ballot.  The  reason  for  this  discriminatory 
measure  is  not  far  to  seek. 

British  Columbia  does  not  issue  fishing  licenses  to 
aliens.  When  Japanese  fishermen  were  brought  into  the 
province  they  found  it  necessary  to  secure  naturalization 
certificates  in  order  to  obtain  fishing  licenses.  Thus  it 
came  to  pass  that  almost  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  natural- 
ized Japanese  in  British  Columbia  are  fishermen,  many 
of  whom  are  uneducated,  if  not  illiterate.  The  wisdom 
of  naturalizing  such  immigrants  is  open  to  question,  but 
inasmuch  as  the  province  had  to  rely  upon  them  for  the 
exploitation  of  one  of  its  most  important  economic  re- 
sources, it  had  to  give  them  naturalization  certificates. 
Naturalization  in  such  circumstances  means  little  more 
than  the  granting  of  fishing  privileges.  It  does  not  neces- 
sarily mean  that  the  recipients  of  citizenship  certificates 
are  ready  to  become  faithful  subjects  of  the  Empire,  nor 
that  they  intend  to  reside  permanently  in  Canada.  Not 
a  few  of  such  Japanese  do  not  see  much  difference 
between  the  fishing  license  and  the  naturalization 
paper. 

Under  such  circumstances  we  can  fully  understand, 
and  even  sympathize  with,  British  Columbia  when  it 
overrode  the  Dominion  law  and  deprived  naturalized 
Japanese  within  its  jurisdiction  of  the  right  of  casting 
the  ballot.    Certainly  those  Japanese  fishermen  who  are 


"WHITE  CANADA"  249 

not  bona  fide  citizens  of  the  Dominion  have  no  moral 
right  to  protest  against  this  provincial  measure. 

And  yet  the  fact  remains  that  this  discrimination  is  in 
obvious  contravention  of  the  naturalization  law  of  the 
Dominion.  Besides,  it  wrongs  those  Japanese  who  have 
obtained  naturalization  certificates  in  good  faith,  and  are 
to  all  intents  and  purposes  desirous  of  remaining  loyal 
subjects  of  the  British  Empire.  It  is  estimated  that  up 
to  191 1  some  3,091  fishermen  were  naturalized.  Grant- 
ing that  some  of  these  men  have  since  returned  to  their 
native  country  or  crossed  over  to  the  unknown  shores 
there  must  still  be  more  than  2,000  naturalized  Japanese 
engaged  in  fishery.  It  would  be  unjust  to  presume  that 
all  of  these  fishermen  are  ignorant  and  otherwise  unquali- 
fied to  vote,  for  my  personal  observations  lead  me  to 
believe  that  some  of  them  are  intelligent  and  are  sincerely 
desirous  of  swearing  allegiance  to  their  adopted  coun- 
try. Moreover,  there  are  in  British  Columbia  some  500 
naturalized  Japanese  who  are  not  fishermen,  but  who 
are,  in  intelligence  and  moral  character,  the  equal  of  the 
average  immigrant  from  any  European  country.  The 
interest  and  welfare  of  this  class  of  Japanese  it  should 
be  the  duty  of  British  Columbia  and  Canada  to  safe- 
guard, especially  since  the  naturalization  law  obviously 
means  to  extend  the  franchise  to  all  naturalized  aliens. 

At  the  same  time  British  Columbia  has  the  right  to 
prevent  the  injection  of  undesirable  elements  into  its 
body  politic.  How,  then,  can  the  province  find  the  way 
out  of  this  dilemma?  To  me  the  way  is  clear.  Issue 
fishing  license  quite  independently  of  naturalization 
paper;  in  other  words,  extend  fishing  privilege  to  aliens, 
so  that  no  ignorant  fisherman,  whether  Oriental  or  Euro- 
pean, need  be  naturalized  simply  because  he  is  needed 
for  the  perpetuation  of  the  salmon  industry.     This  is 


250  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

the  policy  adopted  by  most  States  in  the  United  States. 
California,  for  instance,  issues  fishing  license  to  any 
alien  upon  the  payment  of  annual  fee  of  $io.  I  do  not 
see  why  British  Columbia  cannot  adopt  a  similar  policy. 
On  the  other  hand,  all  aliens,  naturalized  in  conformity  to 
the  laws  of  the  Dominion,  should  be  allowed  to  enjoy 
all  privileges,  civil  and  political,  enjoyed  by  the  citizens 
of  Canada.  This  British  Columbia  can  afford  to  do,  once 
she  has  found  the  way  to  secure  desired  labour  for  the 
promotion  of  the  salmon  industry  without  at  the  same 
time  admitting  ignorant  fishermen  into  citizenship. 

British  Columbia's  peculiar  manner  of  dealing  with 
the  naturalization  question  naturally  created  a  grievance 
among  those  Japanese  who  secured  citizenship  certifi- 
cates in  good  faith.  A  few  years  ago  these  Japanese 
sought  redress  through  legal  channels.  In  the  Provincial 
courts  their  claim  was  upheld,  but  the  Privy  Council  at 
London,  to  which  the  Province  carried  the  case,  virtually 
overruled  the  decision  of  the  courts  by  declaring  that  the 
franchise  can  be  exercised  by  naturalized  foreigners  only 
when  the  Provincial  Government  recognizes  their  fit- 
ness as  voters.  From  the  purely  legal  point  of  view 
there  is  still  room  for  the  Japanese  to  urge  their  con- 
tention, but  the  real  remedy — a  remedy  satisfactory  to 
both  parties — should  be  found,  I  believe,  on  the  line 
suggested  in  the  foregoing  passages. 

At  present  Canada  has  within  its  boundaries  12,000 
Japanese  as  against  40,000  Chinese.  The  cry  of  *'  White 
Canada "  was  first  raised  in  the  eighties  against  the 
Chinese.  In  1885  the  first  anti-Chinese  law  was  passed, 
imposing  upon  each  incoming  Chinese  a  poll  tax  of  $50, 
and  permitting  the  steamers  to  bring  only  one  Chinese 
immigrant  per  each  ton  of  the  capacity  of  each  vessel. 
In  1 90 1  the  poll  tax  was  raised  to  $100,  and  in  1904  to 


"WHITE  CANADA"  25 1 

$500 ;  yet  during  the  past  several  years  Chinese  have  been 
coming  in  in  much  larger  numbers  than  Japanese. 

The  restriction  of  Japanese  immigration  follows  a 
line  totally  different  from  that  followed  in  dealing  with 
Chinese  immigration.  The  Japanese  are  not  required 
to  pay  any  poll  tax  which  is  not  imposed  upon  European 
immigrants.  In  accord  with  the  provisions  of  the  general 
immigration  law  they  must  possess  upon  their  arrival  in 
Canada  at  least  $25  during  the  eight  months  from  March 
to  October,  and  from  November  to  February,  when  de- 
mand for  labour  becomes  less,  at  least  $50.  But  there 
is  between  Canada  and  Japan,  as  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Mikado's  Empire,  a  sort  of  "  gentlemen's 
agreement."  This  understanding,  entered  into  in  1908, 
admits  Japanese  only  of  the  following  classes : 

1.  Settled  agriculturists. 

2.  Parents,  wives,  and  children  of  resident  Japanese. 

3.  Those  coming  back  to  Canada  to  resume  their 
residence  or  business. 

This  agreement  was  the  immediate  outcome  of  the  un- 
scrupulous act  of  some  self-seeking  Japanese  and  Cana- 
dians who  brought  Japanese  from  Hawaiian  plantations 
by  the  shipload.  Prior  to  1907  the  Japanese  Government 
of  its  own  accord  restricted  the  emigration  of  its  sub- 
jects to  Canada,  and  thus  prevented  the  immigration 
question  from  interfering  with  the  cordial  relations  ex- 
isting between  Canada  and  Japan.  But  in  that  year  a 
body  of  Japanese  in  Vancouver  in  complicity  with  their 
Canadian  associates  broached  the  idea  of  importing 
Japanese  labourers  from  Hawaii  in  order  to  supply  the 
unprecedented  demand  for  labour  created  by  the  general 
prosperity  then  prevailing  in  Canada  and  the  United 
States.  For  this  specific  purpose  these  men  chartered  a 
steamer  and  began  importing  Japanese  on  a  large  scale. 


252  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

The  result  was  that  during  the  twelve  months  from  July 
I*  1907*  to  June  30,  1908,  there  were  7,601  Japanese 
immigrants,  showing  an  increase  of  5,500  as  compared 
with  the  figures  for  the  preceding  year. 

This  sudden  influx  of  Japanese  labourers  naturally 
aroused  among  the  labouring  class  a  hostile  feeling 
against  the  Japanese.  About  this  time  the  Exclu- 
sion League  of  San  Francisco,  having  established  a 
branch  office  in  Seattle,  was  striving  to  extend  its  in- 
fluence to  British  Columbia.  Fowler,  the  man  in  charge 
of  the  Seattle  office  of  the  League,  came  to  Vancouver, 
instructed  by  his  chief,  O.  A.  Tveitmoe,  to  fan  the  anti- 
Japanese  sentiment  already  stirred  up  by  the  influx  of 
Hawaiian  Japanese.  The  result  was  the  Vancouver  riot 
of  September  7,  1907.  On  the  evening  of  that  day 
several  hundred  labourers  marched  through  Powell 
Street  to  demonstrate  their  hostility  against  the  Japa- 
nese. On  the  whole  these  men  were  orderly  and  ap- 
parently had  no  intention  to  resort  to  violence.  But 
some  of  them,  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  uttered  vile 
epithets  and  attacked  some  Japanese  and  broke  the  win- 
dows of  a  few  Japanese  stores.  The  Japanese  readily 
accepted  the  challenge,  and  the  scene  that  followed  was 
one  of  violence  and  disorder.  When  the  scuffle  ended 
several  men  of  each  group  were  seriously  wounded. 

Alarmed  by  this  outbreak  the  Dominion  authorities 
sent  special  commissioners  to  Japan  to  negotiate  an 
agreement  for  the  restriction  of  Japanese  immigration. 
The  result  was  an  exclusion  agreement  much  of  the  same 
nature  as  that  between  Japan  and  the  United  States. 
Before  1907  Japanese  immigration  to  Canada  was  not 
very  large.  In  1904  there  were  only  354  immigrants, 
in  1905  1,922,  and  in  1906  2,042.  In  1907,  as  we  have 
already  noted,  the  figures  suddenly  increased  to  7,601. 


"WHITE  CANADA  ^53 

Then  came  the  immigration  convention,  as  the  result  of 
which  Japanese  immigration  suddenly  declined  to  495. 
In  1909  it  continued  to  decline,  the  figures  for  the  year 
being  271.  In  1910  there  were  437  Japanese  immigrants 
and  in  191 1,  765.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
majority  of  Japanese  immigrants  now  seeking  Canadian 
shores  are  not  fresh  immigrants,  but  those  who  were  in 
Canada  before  and  are  coming  back  to  resume  their 
residence  or  business  there.  In  the  following  table  we 
observe  that  Japanese  immigration  since  the  conclusion 
of  the  "  gentlemen's  agreement "  is  much  smaller  than 
Chinese  immigration: 

Year  Japanese  Chinese 

1908-1909  495  1.887 

1909-1910  271  2,156 

1910-1911  437  5.278 

1911-1912  765  6,247 

Not  only  has  "  White  Canada "  erected  a  barrier 
against  the  Chinese  and  Japanese,  but  it  is  even  more 
strictly  excluding  the  Hindus,  who  are,  like  the  Cana- 
dians themselves,  subjects  of  His  Britannic  Majesty.  Up 
to  1905  Hindu  immigration  to  Canada  was  a  negligible 
quantity,  but  in  the  year  following  there  were  2,124 
immigrants  from  East  India,  and  in  1907,  2,623.  Then 
Canada  took  immediate  steps  to  check  the  further  influx 
of  Hindus,  as  the  result  of  which  there  were  only  6 
immigrants  in  1908.  Since  that  year  the  figures  have 
remained  almost  stationary,  the  number  for  191 1  being 
only  3. 

The  treatment  accorded  the  Hindus  in  Canada  is  much 
the  same  as  that  given  them  in  the  United  States.  This 
is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  fact  that  the  East  Indians  are 
in  their  religious  practices,  their  customs,  and  their  ap- 
pearance far  more  exotic  than  the  Japanese,  and  even 


2S4  ASIA  AT  THE  DOOR 

the  Chinese.  Even  as  the  Chinese  used  to  regard  the 
queue  as  the  inalienable  appendage  to  the  head,  so  the 
Hindu  clings  to  the  turban  almost  with  reverence,  and 
is  furthermore  wedded  to  peculiar  ideas  and  habits  born 
of  the  religious  conceptions  and  practices  of  his  native 
country.  Such  ideas  and  habits,  when  better  understood, 
may  be  found  harmless  and  unobjectionable,  but  as  yet 
they  are  a  puzzle  to  the  Occidentals,  and  in  consequence 
the  cause  of  aversion  and  repugnance.  In  the  United 
States,  and  especially  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  I  saw  Hindu 
immigrants,  unable  to  secure  a  lodging,  sleep  in  deserted, 
ramshackle  buildings  and  unoccupied  barns.  It  is  prob- 
ably much  the  same  story  in  British  Columbia. 

In  Canada  the  Hindus  are  not  only  refused  the  fran- 
chise, but  are  forbidden  to  bring  their  wives  or  children 
with  them  and  establish  family  relations.  At  one  time 
the  Canadian  Government  went  so  far  as  to  form  a 
scheme  for  the  wholesale  deportation  of  East  Indians 
to  Honduras.  The  scheme  was  not  carried  out,  as  the 
Hindus  refused  to  go,  but  the  legislature  at  Ottawa 
adopted  in  191 1  an  immigration  law  providing  a  clause 
which  made  it  virtually  impossible  for  the  Hindus  to  enter 
the  Dominion.  That  clause  provides  that  no  immigrants 
"  who  have  come  to  Canada  otherwise  than  by  continuous 
journey  from  the  country  of  which  they  are  natives  or 
citizens,  and  upon  through  tickets  purchased  in  that 
country  or  prepaid  in  Canada  "  shall  be  admitted.  Inno- 
cent on  the  face  of  it,  the  clause  is  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  directed  against  the  Hindus,  who  consider  it 
"  cruel,  vexatious,  and  tricky."  To  understand  the  Hindu 
point  of  view  one  need  only  recall  that  there  is  no  direct 
steamship  service  between  Canada  and  East  India,  and 
that  no  steamship  companies  in  India  will  issue  through 
tickets  to  Canada.    This  discriminatory  measure  has  been 


"WHITE   CANADA"  255 

the  cause  of  bitter  complaint  on  the  part  ot  the  Hindus. 
"  The  Canadian  immigration  laws,"  says  a  Hindu  writer, 
"  have  laid  a  clearly  defined  line  between  His  Majesty's 
subjects  of  Canada  and  those  of  India  in  the  face  of  the 
bold  and  clear  proclamation  of  our  late  Queen  Victoria. 
It  is  a  puzzling  riddle  to  be  solved,  that  in  India  we  are 
British  subjects,  in  England  we  are  British  subjects,  but 
in  Canada,  to  legalize  our  British  citizenship  right,  we 
have  to  secure  another  deed  to  that  effect." 

Canada  is  "  white."  Oriental  immigration  as  com- 
pared with  that  from  Europe  is  insignificant.  In  the 
fiscal  year  1911-1912  immigrants  to  Canada  totaled 
354,237,  of  whom  only  1,845  were  Orientals — 6,247 
Chinese,  765  Japanese,  and  3  Hindus.  And  yet  there 
are  plenty  of  alarmists  trying  to  conjure  up  the  phantom 
of  an  Oriental  domination.  Through  the  activities  of 
such  alarmists  various  anti-Oriental  bills  have  been  oc- 
casionally introduced  in  the  legislature,  Dominion  or 
Provincial. 

Some  of  such  bills  are  no  doubt  put  forward  for  the 
purpose  of  wooing  the  labour  vote  and  need  not  be  taken 
at  their  face  value.  The  Province  of  Saskatchewan,  for 
instance,  adopted  two  years  ago  a  law  prohibiting  the 
Orientals,  keeping  stores  and  amusement  places,  from  em- 
ploying white  women.  And  yet  when  I  was  travelling 
in  that  province  last  year  I  met  in  the  city  of 
Moose  Jaw  two  Japanese  young  men  operating  a  pros- 
perous restaurant  where  all  waitresses  were  Canadians 
of  English  or  French  descent.  I  found  the  establish- 
ment one  of  the  best  restaurants  in  the  city,  and  patron- 
ized by  the  leading  business  men  and  the  best  classes  of 
residents.  The  city  authorities  were  fully  informed  of 
the  new  law  with  regard  to  the  employment  of  white 
women  by  Orientals,  but  they  could  see  no  sense  in 


256  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

applying  such  a  law  to  a  respectable  Japanese  restaurant. 
Its  proprietors,  educated,  intelligent  men,  were  them- 
selves married  to  Canadian  women  of  respectable  fami- 
lies, and  were  among  the  best  citizens  of  the  city.  Why 
molest  their  legitimate  business  simply  because  some  poli- 
ticians wanted  to  curry  favour  with  a  radical  segment  of 
the  labouring  class?  So  these  Japanese  were  permitted 
to  conduct  their  restaurant  as  if  the  employment  law  had 
never  been  passed.  Yet  the  existence  of  such  a  law  was 
highly  repugnant  to  the  Japanese,  and  it  was  but  natural 
that  the  Japanese  Consul  at  Vancouver  requested  the 
authorities  of  Saskatchewan  to  exempt  the  Japanese  from 
the  scope  of  this  law.  The  Provincial  Government  gra- 
ciously responded  to  the  request,  and  the  Japanese  mer- 
chants and  business  men  are  no  longer  subject  to  that 
discriminatory  law.  So  far  as  other  Oriental  peoples 
are  concerned,  that  law  still  remains  valid. 

The  story  of  the  Japanese  restaurant-keepers  in  Moose 
Jaw  is  but  one  of  many  instances  of  the  fact  that  the 
Japanese  are  possessed  of  essential  qualities  to  make 
good  citizens.  A  few  years  ago  these  Japanese  donated 
a  considerable  sum  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  Moose  Jaw,  and 
find  their  staunchest  supporters  among  the  religious  work- 
ers of  the  city.  In  Dawson,  Yukon  Territory,  I  found 
Mr.  S.  Kawakami  one  of  the  very  popular  citizens  of  the 
city.  In  Vancouver  and  Victoria  there  are  a  number  of 
public-spirited,  intellectual  Japanese,  who  should  be  al- 
lowed, as  their  brothers  in  other  parts  of  Canada,  to 
enjoy  voting  privileges. 

The  principle  represented  by  the  catchword  "  White 
Canada"  is  not  necessarily  a  wrong  one,  but  Canada 
would  do  well  to  reflect  that  all  "  whites  "  are  not  "  good 
whites."  Moreover,  while  Canada  is  admitting  the 
Chinese  by  the  thousand,  it  is  barring  out  the  subjects 


"WHITE  CANADA"  257 

of  the  most  advanced  and  enlightened  country  in  the 
Orient,  an  ally  of  the  British  Empire.  Again,  in  the 
fiscal  year  1911-1912,  Canada  admitted  South  and  East- 
em  European  immigrants  as  follows : 

Bulgarians  3,295  Greeks 693 

Hebrews  5,322  Italians   7,590 

Poles   5,060  Roumanians 793 

Russians 9,805  Servians   209 

Turks    632  Syrians   144 

In  the  United  States  many  authorities  on  the  immi- 
gration question  are  beginning  to  realize  the  danger  of 
admitting  without  restriction  immigrants  of  the  races 
represented  in  the  above  table.  If  Canada's  enormous 
natural  resources  cannot  be  developed  without  recourse 
to  immigrants,  it  would  seem  the  part  of  wisdom  on  her 
part  to  conceive  her  laws  so  as  to  receive  only  desirable 
classes  of  immigrants  both  from  Europe  and  from  Asia. 

It  is  much  to  be  hoped  that  Canada  and  the  British 
Empire  will  not  permit  the  shibboleth  of  "  White  Can- 
ada "  to  be  exploited  by  those  pseudo-publicists  and  self- 
styled  patriots  who  have  their  own  axes  to  grind.  It  is 
just  such  publicists  and  patriots  who  constantly  raise 
the  hysterical  cry  of  "  Japanese  domination."  They  say 
that  the  Japanese  have  placed  in  their  political  pro- 
gramme ''  the  occupation  of  British  Columbia,"  when  in 
reality  Japanese  immigrants  are  merely  peace-loving,  law- 
abiding,  unobtrusive  souls,  desirous  only  of  improving 
their  lot  in  life  in  this  new  world  of  opportunity.  They 
say  that  the  Japanese  have  "  settled  down  in  British 
Columbia  in  solid  phalanxes  of  10,000  or  more  at  a 
time  and  place,"  when  the  entire  Japanese  population  in 
Canada  does  not  exceed  12,000,  of  whom  less  than  4,000 
are  in  Vancouver,  whose  total  population  is  more  than 
125,000.    They  say  that  a  Japanese  syndicate  "  seized  " 


258  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

a  valuable  copper-mine  in  British  Columbia,  but  the  en- 
terprise has  been  a  flat  failure  because  the  mine  has  been 
found  worthless. 

All  such  alarmist  notes  are  sounded  chiefly,  if  not 
merely,  for  the  purpose  of  creating  a  powerful  Pacific 
fleet  of  warships  for  the  Dominion.  One  can  well  un- 
derstand why  so  many  of  the  politicians  of  British 
Columbia  are  eager  to  conjure  up  the  bogie  of  Japanese 
domination,  when  one  recalls  that  men-of-war  are  far 
more  liberal  customers  of  coastwise  cities  even  than  men 
of  commerce. 

To  indicate  the  extent  of  business  patronage  which  a 
naval  fleet  bestows  upon  a  seaport  city,  let  me  cite  the 
case  of  San  Francisco.  In  19 12,  $5,ooo,ocx)  was  expended 
in  the  city  of  the  Golden  Gate  by  the  Commissary  for 
supplies.  In  the  fiscal  year  191 3  the  expenditure  in- 
creased to  $8,000,000.  As  a  writer  in  a  recent  military 
journal  states,  "  ninety  cents  out  of  every  dollar  of  this 
not  inconsiderable  sum  will  swell  the  bank  accounts  of 
San  Francisco  merchants,  civilians,  mechanics,  labourers, 
and  others  to  whom  the  United  States  pays  living  ex- 
penses.'' Is  it  any  wonder  that  Vancouver  craves  "  de- 
fence "  ?  It  wants  to  see  dreadnoughts  frequent  its  har- 
bour not  because  of  any  fear  of  Oriental  invasion,  but 
because  the  Navy  is  notoriously  "  a  good  spender." 

Just  as  in  the  United  States  many  politicians  and  pub- 
licists are  employed  by  the  manufacturers  of  warships 
and  guns  to  spread  and  exploit  war  talk,  so  in  Canada 
those  interested  in  the  creation  of  a  powerful  Pacific 
fleet  are  resorting  to  means  which  are  far  from  honour- 
able. To  carry  out  their  scheme  these  men  are  holding 
up  before  an  unthinking  public  the  scarecrow  of  Japa- 
nese invasion.  Perhaps  they  have  no  desire  to  stir  up 
hostile  feeling  towards  the  Japanese,  but  their  methods 


"WHITE  CANADA"  ^S9 

of  propaganda,  if  taken  at  their  face  value,  cannot  but 
result  in  the  estrangement  of  the  British  Empire  and 
the  Mikado's  Empire,  which  are  at  present  bound  in  alli- 
ance as  well  as  by  ties  of  traditional  friendship.  To  indi- 
cate the  nature  of  the  activities  of  such  unscrupulous 
propagandists,  I  present  the  following  passage  from  a 
speech  recently  delivered  in  Vancouver  by  a  publicist  of 
British  Columbia: 

"  Japan  will  not  allow  a  foreigner  to  own  or  even 
work  a  mine  in  Japan,  but  she  unreasonably  demands  for 
the  Japanese  the  right  to  work  in  the  mines  and  to  own 
and  exploit  the  mines  of  Canada  and  the  United  States 
— one  small  syndicate  of  coolies  having  now  possession 
of  a  copper-mine  in  British  Columbia  worth  nearly  a 
million  pounds.  She  allows  no  foreigner  to  engage  in 
fisheries  in  Japanese  waters,  but  she  demands  the  right 
of  the  Japanese  to  fish  American  and  Canadian  waters; 
and,  as  a  consequence,  all  the  fisheries  of  British  Colum- 
bia, which  are  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  fisheries  of  Canada, 
which  are  the  largest  and  most  profitable  in  the  world, 
are  now  wholly  in  Japanese  hands,  yielding  10,500  Japa- 
nese labourers  from  £100  to  i6oo  a  year  apiece,  the  most 
of  which  is  sent  in  cash  to  Japan,  and  alienated  from  the 
British  Empire  for  ever.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that 
Japan  will  not  tolerate  our  workmen  on  her  soil,  except 
those  skilled  labourers  we  have  been  simple  enough  to 
send  over  to  teach  the  Japanese  how  to  make  goods 
cheaper  than  we  can  make  them. 

"  Japan  is  gradually  taxing,  or  legislating,  or  expropri- 
ating every  Western  interest  out  of  Japan,  Korea,  and 
Manchuria,  and  as  far  as  possible  out  of  China,  but  she 
demands  equal  rights  and  opportunities  for  the  Japanese 
workman,  merchant,  financier,  farmer  in  the  business 
opportunities  and  potential  wealth  of  the  New  World, 


26o  ASIA  AT   THE  DOOR 

and  more — those  safeguards  and  protections  which  the 
Japanese  themselves  cannot  grant  to  their  own  people  on 
their  own  soil — equal  rights  in  the  privileges  of  an  Anglo- 
Saxon  democracy. 

*'  If  Japan  wants  something  on  the  American  Conti- 
nent, Canada  and  the  United  States  must  give  it.  If 
Canada  and  the  United  States  want  something  in  Japan, 
Korea,  or  Manchuria,  it  is  inimical  to  the  interests  of 
Japan,  and  they  cannot  have  it.  Whatever  is  prejudicial 
to  the  interests  or  the  pride  of  Japan  must  be  yielded 
by  Canadians  and  Americans.  Whatever  is  prejudicial 
to  the  interests  of  Americans  and  Canadians  must  be  ac- 
cepted because  of  the  imperious  demands  of  Japanese 
pride  and  national  interest,  and  the  power  of  the  Japa- 
nese warships." 

Such  irresponsible  assertions  are  hardly  worth  a  refu- 
tation. I  may,  however,  say  that  most  of  them  have 
been  answered  in  the  foregoing  chapters,  as  well  as  in 
my  recent  book,  "  American- Japanese  Relations."  If  the 
publicists  of  Canada  would  discuss  the  Japanese  ques- 
tion, it  should  be  their  duty  to  study  more  seriously  the 
laws  and  policies  of  the  Empire  of  Nippon,  lest  they 
would  simply  make  themselves  ridiculous  and  absurd  in 
the  eyes  of  the  well-informed. 


EPILOGUE 

AMERICANS  AND  THE  FAR  EAST 

AMERICANS,  as  a  whole,  know  very  little  about  for- 
jt\.  ^^S^  affairs  and  care  less ;  the  struggles  of  peoples 
for  a  larger  share  of  political  power  interest  them 
because  their  own  career  as  a  nation  began  with  such  a 
struggle,  and  because  they  are  sympathetic  with  the  demo- 
cratic movement  everywhere.  Since  the  Philippines  fell 
into  their  hands  they  have  learned  where  Manila  is ;  and 
they  have  come  to  have  a  realizing  sense,  to  recall  an  old 
theological  phrase,  that  there  is  a  Far  East.  War  shares 
one  advantage  with  travel;  it  teaches  geography.  The 
gallant  fight  of  little  Japan  with  big  Russia  carried 
American  sympathy  with  it ;  the  precision  and  skill  with 
which  that  war  was  conducted  by  the  Japanese  received 
quick  appreciation  from  this  country ;  while  the  splendid 
patriotism  of  the  Japanese  and  their  dauntless  courage 
evoked  unstinted  admiration.  The  revolution  in  China 
was  so  unexpected  on  this  side  of  the  Pacific  and  so  dra- 
matic that  it  instantly  arrested  attention,  and  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  Chinese  Republic  undoubtedly  had  behind  it 
the  hearty  good-will  of  the  American  people.  That  strik- 
ing event,  like  the  rise  of  Japan,  and,  for  that  matter, 
like  every  other  event  of  great  significance,  was  sudden 
only  to  those  who  did  not  know  the  influences  that 
brought  it  about ;  influences  that  had  long  been  at  work 
in  the  venerable  country  which  has  rendered  so  many 
services  to  civilization.  When  the  Dragon  Throne  fell, 
with  so  little  disorder  and  bloodshed  that  it  seemed  to 
have  collapsed  of  its  own  weight,  Americans  did  not 

261 


2(y2  EPILOGUE 

recognize  the  very  considerable  part  they  had  played  in 
making  ready  for  the  drama  which  is  much  the  most  im- 
pressive now  being  presented  on  the  stage  of  the  world. 

Nor  did  the  majority  of  Americans  understand  the  part 
played  by  American  influence  in  the  revolution  in  Turkey, 
and,  consequently,  in  the  series  of  events  set  in  motion 
when  the  Young  Turks  dethroned  the  Sultan.  Many  of 
them  had  heard  of  Robert  College,  but  they  had  only  a 
very  vague  idea  of  the  effect  of  American  educational 
agencies  of  various  kinds  in  awakening  civic  spirit  in  Tur- 
key and  liberating  an  energy  so  long  suppressed  that  it 
seemed  to  have  been  destroyed. 

In  the  Near  as  in  the  Far  East,  Americans  have  in- 
curred responsibilities  from  which  their  ignorance  will 
not  relieve  them.  It  was  their  hand  which  opened  the 
closed  doors  of  Japan  and  forced  upon  that  country 
changes  more  radical  than  any  other  country  has  ever 
passed  through  in  less  than  sixty  years.  Those  changes, 
as  Count  Okuma  recently  pointed  out  in  the  pages  of  The 
Outlook,  have  left  no  side  of  life  in  Japan  untouched. 
The  situation  may  be  summed  up  in  a  sentence:  The 
entire  development  of  modern  Japan  has  been  imposed  on 
her  from  without.  She  has  been  involved  in  a  chain  of 
events  from  which  she  could  not  have  escaped  if  she 
had  tried,  and  she  has  faced  them  with  a  courage,  an 
intelligence,  and  a  power  of  devotion  to  the  nation  which 
must  fill  all  fair-minded  men  who  know  her  history  with 
confidence  in  her  ability  to  overcome  the  difficulties  which 
still  confront  her,  and  to  work  out  her  destiny  along  the 
lines  long  ago  defined  by  her  history,  temperament,  and 
genius. 

The  sooner  the  world  recognizes  the  fact  that  there  is 
a  New  East,  the  greater  will  be  the  chances  of  race  prog- 
ress in  the  twentieth  century;  the  sooner  Americans  rec- 
ognize the  share  they  have  had  in  creating  the  conditions 


EPILOGUE  263 

and  problems  of  the  New  East,  the  sooner  will  they  face 
the  responsibilities  they  have  assumed  and  the  more  in- 
telligently will  they  choose  the  part  they  are  to  play  in 
the  world  in  the  new  age  of  international  relationship 
which  has  begun.  Are  they  to  discard  their  traditions, 
violate  their  principles,  and  abdicate  the  chance  of  lead- 
ership in  the  affairs  of  humanity,  or  are  they  to  fulfil 
the  prophecies  of  a  large-minded,  far-seeing  statesman- 
ship which  their  relations  with  Japan  and  China  have  so 
far  uniformly  made  ?  California  has  unexpectedly  raised 
an  issue  of  the  first  importance,  and  those  who  imagine 
that  the  crisis,  has  passed  and  that  the  clouds  between 
the  two  countries  will  dissolve  in  thin  air  do  not  know 
the  persistence  of  the  people  with  whom  they  are  dealing. 
A  Russian  military  writer  has  said  of  the  Japanese  that 
they  seem  to  have  mastered  all  kinds  of  tactics  except 
those  of  retreat.  They  feel  that  they  have  been  seriously 
affronted  and  unfairly  treated,  and  any  attempt  to  ignore 
their  protests  and  trust  to  time  to  heal  the  breach  in  the 
long-established  friendly  relations  between  the  countries 
will  disastrously  fail.  It  has  been  well  said  that  this 
question  is  two  per  cent,  a  State  matter  and  ninety-eight 
per  cent,  a  National  matter.  The  members  of  the  Califor- 
nia Legislature  who  voted  for  the  anti- Japanese  land  bill 
acted  as  if  they  were  dealing  with  a  few  thousand  immi- 
grants ;  they  seemed  to  be  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  they 
were  dealing  with  a  sensitive  and  powerful  nation.  Ig- 
noring that  nation  and  omitting  the  courtesies  with  which 
civilized  countries  approach  questions  of  such  difficulty 
and  delicacy,  they  struck  at  the  Japanese  immigrants  and 
w^ent  home,  leaving  the  United  States  to  deal  with  the 
Japanese  Government. 

The  American  people  are  very  much  engrossed  for  the 
moment  with  home  affairs  of  pressing  importance ;  Japan 
is  nine  thousand  miles  from  Washington;  most  Ameri- 


264  EPILOGUE 

cans  are  very  ignorant  of  the  character,  ability,  and  spirit 
of  the  Japanese  people ;  and  the  news  sent  from  one  coun- 
try to  the  other  seems  to  be  edited  for  the  purpose  of 
irritating  the  two  peoples.  Under  these  conditions  it  is 
not  surprising  that  Americans  have  not  yet  awakened  to 
the  fact  that  they  are  face  to  face  with  an  international 
question  of  far-reaching  importance :  the  question  of  the 
future  policy  of  this  country  in  the  New  East. 

If  it  shall  appear  that  the  short-sighted  and  rough- 
handed  way  of  dealing  with  a  friendly  nation  brings 
home  to  the  United  States  its  responsibilities  to,  and  the 
political  and  commercial  possibilities  of,  the  rising  East, 
good  will  come  out  of  evil;  for  a  sharp  crisis  is  less 
dangerous  than  drifting  without  foresight  into  grave 
complexities,  and  missing  through  ignorance  those  oppor- 
tunities of  contributing  to  the  welfare  of  the  race  which 
constitute  the  greatest  good-fortune  of  a  nation.  Many 
things  could  be  said  about  the  anti-Japanese  legislation 
in  California,  but  only  two  things  need  to  be  said  for 
the  purpose  of  getting  the  situation  clearly  before  the 
country.  There  was  no  immediate  occasion  for  such  leg- 
islation ;  neither  in  population  nor  in  holdings  of  land  was 
there  a  menacing  situation.  There  was  not  the  slightest 
danger  of  a  ''  wave  of  Asiatic  immigration  " ;  it  was  im- 
possible under  existing  arrangements  between  the  two 
Governments. 

A  writer  in  The  Outlook,  whose  statement  of  the  case 
from  the  anti- Japanese  standpoint  was  in  effect  a  recogni- 
tion that  one  of  the  most  serious  objections  to  the  Japa- 
nese is  their  ability,  declared  that  California  cared  noth- 
ing for  the  land  bills,  and  that  they  could  have  been  killed 
as  anti- Japanese  measures  were  killed  two  years  ago  if 
the  "  Tokyo  jingoes  "  had  not  blown  the  "  war  trumpet  " ; 
and  that  the  abrupt  change  in  California's  attitude  was 
but  the  reflection  of  "  Japan's  mailed  fist " ;  and  a  writer 


EPILOGUE  265 

in  The  World's  Work  says :  "  At  this  very  moment,  while 
this  is  being  written,  twenty  thousand  people  are  surging 
through  the  streets  of  Tokyo  clamouring  for  war  with 
America."  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  Americans  in  Tokyo, 
at  the  time  these  stirring  words  were  written,  saw  no 
mobs  and  heard  no  clamour.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
mobs  and  the  clamour  were  imaginary.  There  are  yel- 
low politicians  in  Japan  as  there  are  in  this  country,  and 
there  were  meetings  at  which  speeches  were  made  de- 
nouncing the  Japanese  Government  for  not  taking  a 
firmer  attitude  on  the  question ;  for  it  is  an  old  device  of 
the  opposition  to  attack  the  government  for  not  adopting 
a  "  vigorous  policy  '*  when  an  international  difference 
arises.  There  was  no  outbreak  of  popular  feeling  against 
the  United  States.  There  has  been  a  very  warm  feeling 
of  friendship  for  the  United  States  among  the  Japanese ; 
a  feeling  of  confidence  and  friendship  which  has  been 
and  may  continue  to  be,  if  wise  counsels  prevail,  a  very 
valuable  asset  in  the  Far  East ;  and  the  feeling  in  Japan 
was  rather  one  of  astonishment  and  pain  than  of  anger. 
The  managing  editor  of  the  World,  writing  on  this  sub- 
ject in  the  North  American  Review,  says : 

"  It  may  be  said  plainly  that,  if  there  is  ever  trouble 
between  the  United  States  and  Japan,  it  will  begin  here. 
There  is  something  painful  about  the  childlike  faith  and 
grateful  good-will  manifested  toward  the  American  vis- 
itor by  the  people  of  Japan,  in  perpetual  acknowledgment 
of  their  debt  to  the  United  States.  This  is  no  shallow 
sentiment,  but  a  deep  feeling  bred  of  the  belief  that  but 
for  Commodore  Perry  and  Townsend  Harris,  that  coun- 
try would  have  dwelt  in  mediaeval  helplessness  until  too 
late." 

The  Japanese  felt,  and  they  had  ample  justification  for 
the  feeling,  that  the  proposed  legislation  was  unfair  in 
its  attack  on  values  acquired  by  Japanese  workers  in 


2(£  EPILOGUE 

California,  and  they  resented  the  discrimination  against 
them  as  Japanese;  precisely  as  we  should  have  done  if 
Germany,  for  instance,  had  proposed  such  legislation 
dealing  with  American  holdings. 

Nor  was  there  any  ''  Japanese  mailed  fist  " ;  on  the  con- 
trary, the  Japanese  Government  has  treated  the  situation 
with  notable  reserve  and  studied  courtesy  from  the  be- 
ginning. It  has  done  everything  in  its  power  to  avoid 
giving  occasion  for  anti-Japanese  agitation  in  this 
country. 

It  has  also  been  urged  as  a  justification  for  driving  the 
anti- Japanese  bill  through  the  legislature  at  Sacramento 
that  *'  the  press  of  the  country  raked  the  Sacramento 
statesmen  fore  and  aft  with  grape-shot/'  whereupon  Cali- 
fornia shook  off  its  lethargy  and  demanded  the  passage 
of  the  bill.  The  press  of  the  country  did  precisely  what 
it  ought  to  do  when  a  State  attempts  to  deal  with  a 
question  "  ninety-eight  per  cent."  of  which  is  National. 
Having  passed  the  bill,  the  Sacramento  statesmen  went 
to  their  homes  and  left  the  National  Government  to  deal 
with  an  international  situation  which  it  had  not  created. 
A  question  that  is  "  ninety-eight  per  cent."  National 
ought  to  be  dealt  with  by  the  Nation ;  this  matter  was  pre- 
eminently matter  for  arrangement  by  diplomacy,  not  for 
rough-and-ready  action  by  a  State  legislature  influenced 
by  local  politics. 

If  this  legislation  were  a  thing  of  the  past,  unfortu- 
nate in  manner  and  form  but  an  accomplished  fact,  it 
would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  recall  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances which  surrounded  it;  but  it  is  not  an  end,  it  is 
a  beginning.  It  ought,  therefore,  to  be  clearly  under- 
stood that  there  was  no  occasion  for  it  in  present  condi- 
tions ;  that  there  is  no  "  Asiatic  invasion  "  of  any  part 
of  America,  nor  is  there  any  possibility  of  such  an  inva- 


EPILOGUE  267 

sion ;  that  there  were  no  *'  surging  mobs  in  the  streets  of 
Tokyo  clamouring  for  war  ";  that  there  was  no  "  mailed 
fist''  raised  by  the  Japanese  Government,  but  that,  on 
the  contrary,  that  Government  has  made  every  effort  to 
keep  the  country  quiet  and  has  succeeded,  and  has  treated 
the  questions  at  issue  with  restraint  and  calmness;  that 
in  protesting  against  the  legislation  the  country  at  large 
was  not  interfering  with  local  affairs  in  a  State,  but  urg- 
ing a  State  not  to  interfere  with  National  affairs.  Pre- 
cisely what  was  foreseen  by  clear-minded  people  has  hap- 
pened: an  international  problem  of  the  first  importance 
has  been,  presented,  and  must  be  settled  on  principles  of 
justice  and  fair  play  and  with  the  same  consideration 
for  the  feelings  of  other  nations  which  we  demand  for 
ourselves  from  other  nations. 

Japan  has  a  civilization  different  from  ours;  in  some 
respects  inferior,  in  other  respects  distinctly  superior,  to 
ours.  Japan  is  much  more  thoroughly  organized  than  the 
United  States;  indeed,  no  Western  country  except  Ger- 
many can  be  compared  with  Japan  in  military  efficiency 
and  in  general  educational  training:  Japan  must  be 
treated  on  a  basis  of  equality. 

This  does  not  mean  the  unimpeded  flowing  together  of 
great  populations,  with  different  standards  of  life  and 
living  under  radically  different  economic  conditions;  it 
does  mean  that  the  United  States  shall  demand  nothing 
of  the  Far  East  which  it  is  not  ready  to  give  to  the  Far 
East,  that  restriction  of  immigration  and  all  kindred 
questions  shall  be  settled  by  friendly  diplomacy  between 
the  Governments,  and  that  the  Far  East  shall  be  treated 
as  a  co-partner  in  the  affairs  of  humanity.  In  a  sentence : 
The  equality  which  is  often  professed  in  word  and  often 
denied  in  act  must  be  made  the  basal  principle  in  all 
international  relations.    Race  differences  must  be  clearly 


268  EPILOGUE 

and  frankly  recognized;  economic  differences  must  be 
candidly  faced;  but  race  hatred  must  be  driven  beyond 
the  pale  of  civilization ;  it  is  a  survival  of  barbarism  and 
it  must  go  back  where  it  belongs. 

The  Japanese  have  never  been  servile;  that  is  the 
secret  of  the  dislike  for  them  felt  by  Western  peoples, 
accustomed  to  treat  the  Oriental  as  if  he  were  outside  the 
protection  of  law.  "  You  cannot  knock  a  Japanese  down 
in  Japan  without  danger  of  going  to  jail,"  summed  up, 
for  one  European,  the  chief  offence  of  a  nation  which 
holds  itself  quite  on  a  par  with  other  nations  in  those 
things  which  are  essential  to  civilization.  If  some  Japa- 
nese have  an  exalted  idea  of  their  national  achievements, 
they  are  sharing  the  feeling  which  Americans,  Germans, 
Englishmen,  and  others  entertain  with  regard  to  their  re- 
spective countries.  The  sense  of  superiority  has  reached 
a  high  state  of  development  in  most  countries.  Much 
has  been  said  about  non-assimilability ;  and  it  has  been 
declared  many  times  that  the  issue  of  superiority  or  infe- 
riority is  not  raised ;  but  the  fact  remains  that  in  dealing 
with  Japanese  subjects  Japan  was  ignored. 

There  is  a  New  East  rapidly  rising  in  political  and  com- 
mercial power ;  we  have  had  a  great  share  in  opening  the 
way  for  it,  in  giving  its  development  impetus  and  direc- 
tion. We  have  invaded  it  with  our  ideas,  methods,  cap- 
ital. Our  merchants  are  in  all  its  ports,  our  lawyers, 
surgeons,  physicians,  dentists,  are  in  its  leading  cities; 
we  have  wxlcomed  its  students  in  our  colleges  and  sent 
our  teachers  by  the  score  to  its  schools,  colleges,  universi- 
ties ;  our  missionaries  are  everywhere  preaching  the  reli- 
gions we  profess,  and  teaching  the  ethics  we  call  ours. 
We  have  forced  open  the  gates  of  the  Far  East,  and 
every  year  we  are  multiplying  the  means  of  relationship 
with  it.    Mr.  Marconi  has  spoken  across  the  Atlantic  and 


EPILOGUE  269 

will  soon  speak  across  the  Pacific.  The  ends  of  the  earth 
have  become  stations  on  the  unbroken  circle  of  communi- 
cation which  runs  around  the  globe ;  and  we  are  only  at 
the  beginning  of  international  intercourse.  A  German 
writer  has  recently  said  that  in  his  opinion  the  finest  ele- 
ments for  future  citizenship  are  in  China.  Japan  is  well 
on  her  way  towards  the  command  of  her  resources ;  and 
now  that  science  is  intensifying  the  efficiency  of  men  in 
dealing  with  soil  and  with  industry,  who  will  venture 
to  fix  the  limits  of  her  growth?  In  the  Far  East,  too, 
lie  the  great  fortunes  of  the  future — the  prosperity  which 
ought  to  enrich  the  Pacific  Coast  and  will  enrich  it  unless 
it  closes  its  imagination  to  a  wealth  of  opportunity  which 
twenty-five  years  will  turn  into  tangible  riches. 

In  the  light  of  these  facts,  what  shall  be  American  pol- 
icy in  the  Far  East  ?  So  far  it  has  been  friendly ;  if  not 
masterly,  it  has  not  followed  slavishly  the  lines  of  Euro- 
pean policy,  which  has  been  determined  largely  by  com- 
mercial interests.  But  it  ought  to  do  more;  it  ought 
actively  to  aid  a  development  for  which  it  is  largely  re- 
sponsible; it  ought  to  unite  to  the  sound  sense  that  will 
deal  practically  with  questions  of  present  intercourse  the 
imagination  that  will  foresee  and  lead  the  way  in  the  new 
age  which  has  begun.  "  The  Mediterranean  era  declined 
with  the  Roman  Empire  and  died  with  the  discovery  of 
America/*  writes  Mr.  Roosevelt.  "  The  Atlantic  era  is 
now  at  the  height  of  its  development  and  must  soon  ex- 
haust the  resources  at  its  command.  The  Pacific  era, 
destined*  to  be  the  greatest  of  all  and  to  bring  the  whole 
human  race  at  last  into  one  comity  of  nations,  is  just 
at  the  dawn."  Hamilton  W.  Mabie. 


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